On the Path of Recovery
by lexi-charmed
Summary: It's three months since Sam and Mel saved Dean from his Hell deal, and it's time to get back on the road. But what happens when Sam decides he wants to remain with the Halliwells and Mel decides she wants to hunt instead? How does Dean handle that and what will the demons do?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas. As I promised, I'm bringing the sequel to On the Path of Destruction. I have a few more in this universe being written. The third story is almost finished, and I have a couple of others in the middle of being written. I tend to get an idea, run with it and start the next as I get the idea and then move back onto something else. This is why I only share stories once they're complete now :)  
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**Well, here's the first chapter of this 15-chapter story.**

Chapter 1

"Try it now?" Dean stepped back from the car and looked around the hood. Melinda turned the key, but the car still didn't start. She groaned and got out of the car.

"What the fuck is wrong with it?" Melinda scowled, looking at the engine with her hands on her hips. They had been working on the car for three months now—much longer than the month they initially thought it would be. Not that they were too bothered. Both were enjoying each other's company—in and out of the sheets. But Melinda was starting to wonder whether she was going to get her car back on the road.

Dean was also wondering whether he was going to get his baby back on the road. She didn't deserve to be cooped up at the Halliwell Manor, and only being driven between there and Melinda's apartment, or to P3 when he was helping his girlfriend out there.

He couldn't help but smirk at the idea of having a girlfriend. He never thought that would happen. The two never set out to end up together. They were just 'fuck buddies' as Melinda had put it, but that soon turned into something more. Dean guessed that Melinda putting everything on hold to help get him out of his demon deal was the reason for him. For Melinda, it was the fact that she finally had someone she could talk to about all the crap she was going through.

Both were drinking less and smiling more. The Hallliwells and Sam both saw the change in the two of them, and finally decided that it was time they put the boyfriend/girlfriend label on their relationship. When they talked about it to each other—and that wasn't exactly easy for either of them—they agreed that it was time to do it. Initially worried that it would change things, they soon realized that it really didn't. It was just a label.

"Let me try something." Melinda snapped Dean out of his thoughts, as she leaned over the engine. Dean didn't even care what she was doing. He was too busy looking at her ass; and what a great ass it was. Even through her denim dungarees—he loved the fact that she was wearing them to work on the car—he could see the perfect shape. But he would never get the image of her ass in those black skinny jeans that she wore to the demon bar that first night they slept together from his mind. Those jeans with those black boots...

Dean felt himself getting a semi, so he quickly moved his thoughts onto something else. Coughing nervously, he turned around and grabbed his beer, finishing the thing off. Right now all he wanted to do was grab Melinda and take her over the hood of his own car.

"Can you try that for me?" Melinda called from the car, looking behind her to see Dean with the beer, "Hey! Earth to Winchester!"

Dean turned around with a weak smile, "Sorry?"

"Try the car, please." She asked again, rolled her eyes.

Dean did as he was asked once Melinda stepped back. He wasn't expecting much, though. They had been playing with this car for the last half hour trying to get it to start. Neither—despite being great mechanics—could figure it out.

The car didn't start. Making Melinda growl in frustration.

"Maybe it is the battery after all," Dean suggested. Melinda had ruled that out pretty early on. She said that the battery had been charged quite recently, so it wasn't that. But now Dean wondered just how recently she meant, "Want me to get the jump leads."

Melinda shook her head and asked Dean to step away from the car. He wondered what she was going to do, but then saw her put her hands over the battery compartment. Electrical sparks appeared from her hands, into the battery. He couldn't help but smirk at her use of her powers.

"What happened to personal gain?" Dean asked, remembering that the Halliwells had said they were only meant to use their powers to save innocents and fight demons. That didn't quite happen for any of them. Wyatt would orb back and forth between the Manor and his house with Bianca, and Chris would constantly use his sensing to check up on his siblings, niece and cousins. Melinda would use them for things like this, while Pru would use her telekinesis just to get things out of the fridge because she was lazy. It was a Halliwell thing, Dean decided.

"How about now?" Melinda asked, ignoring Dean's question about personal gain.

When Dean turned the key this time, the car started instantly.

"Yes!" Melinda shouted with pleasure. She had finally fixed her car, but felt a little stupid that it had taken so long to decide that it was the battery after all.

Dean kept the engine running, but got out of the car and wrapped his arms around Melinda's waist, "You know, if a car starting makes you scream like that, I'd like to see what I can do."

"You already know what you do, baby," Melinda winked and kissed him gently, "So, fancy a ride in my newly built Mustang?"

"Of course!" Dean exclaimed, "I've just spent three months helping you put this baby back together. I just hope my baby doesn't get jealous."

Melinda just laughed and shut the hood, mentioning how he wasn't the one driving so it would be fine. She opened the garage door as Dean climbed into the car, and then she jumped in the driver's seat. It had been far too long since she'd been behind the wheel of this car.

Now that she was behind it, she froze a little. The last time she'd driven her Mustang was almost seven months ago. She was drunk one night and...she didn't really want to think about what she did. But it led to a complete write-off and she was lucky to get out of the crash alive. And she was lucky to have a cousin to teleport her out of there. Otherwise she would have definitely lost her license. They'd made up some story about the car being stolen, and then they got it back to fix it up. Wyatt and Chris made it clear that it was the first and last time that they would lie for her about something like that, and the only reason they did was because nobody else was involved.

She hadn't quite accepted how serious it was until now she was back behind the wheel. She'd driven since that accident—and a lot of the time drunk—but it was sitting back in this car with the flashes of it flipping...

"You okay?" Dean's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She could hear the concern and saw the confusion in his eyes.

"I'm fine. Just thinking is all." She told him before putting the car into gear—yes, she had to have a stick—and drove out of the garage. She took it slow at first, but decided to pick up the pace once she accepted that she could drive this thing. She'd had one beer that day. That was all.

"So, where we going?" Dean now asked, as Melinda seemed to just drive straight on without a destination in mind.

"I don't know," Melinda shrugged, "I just wanted to get her out now that we got her started."

Dean grinned, but that soon turned to a devilish smirk. He remembered something that she'd done to him the second day they were together, and had decided now was the perfect time to get his own back. He couldn't quite do what she did, but he would do something similar.

He put his hand on Melinda's leg, by her knee at first, and then let it trail upwards.

"Dean," Melinda said with a stern sound to her voice, but Dean ignored her. He continued to feel and rub her leg until he got to the top of her thigh. He stayed there for a minute before feeling right in between them, rubbing through the fabric of her jeans, "Dean!"

Melinda focused on the road while Dean explored her body. She knew why he was doing this, and she definitely wasn't really complaining. It felt good, and she wanted more. She suddenly knew where she was going.

Taking the next left made Dean smirk. There were only two destinations going this way: P3 and Melinda's apartment. Which one was she going to take him to?

* * *

><p>Sam sighed as he read the newspaper. He was on the business page, finding out about everything that had been going on in the world.<p>

"Was that the Mustang I heard?" Chris asked, walking into the kitchen and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Yeah. Sounds like they finally got it started." Sam grinned and put the paper down so the two could chat. This had become a regular morning routine for them over the last three months, and Sam had to admit that he enjoyed it. It was like having a family, and he loved the fact that he had a semi-normal and safe life. He and Dean had been out on the odd hunt, but only ones close by. Dean kept saying he'd promised to get that Mustang up and running, but Sam was sure there was something else behind it.

"I guess you'll be leaving soon then," Chris said, disappointed at the idea. He quite enjoyed having Dean and Sam around, "It'll be a shame."

"Yeah, same." Sam nodded as he took another mouthful of his coffee.

"You don't want to leave?" Chris read between the lines, and smiled when Sam shrugged his shoulders, "You know, there's always a place here for you, man. And I know Mel would be more than happy to let you keep your job at P3."

"Thanks, Chris," Sam smiled appreciatively, "I'm not sure if Dean would want to stick around though. You know what he's like."

Sam realized he had gotten too comfortable over the last three months. It was only supposed to be one, but it had taken longer than expected to get some of the parts for the car. And then there were problems with getting the final bits sorted. Dean and Melinda were constantly talking about possible problems over the last couple of days, but it was a sign for Sam to get ready to get back to normal hunting life.

He remembered back to his time at Stanford. Even though he wouldn't be studying law here, he would have liked to have some roots somewhere. He wondered whether he could convince Dean to come back every now and then when it came to the bit in between hunts. It would make more sense than constantly looking for somewhere to move onto.

"Okay, so I'll be there at 2pm," Dana spoke as she walked into the kitchen on her cell phone. She waved to the boys, while continuing to chat to whoever she was on the phone to, "Yes, Chris will be with me too. Thanks, bye!"

At the sound of his name, Chris looked at Sam questioning what he was meant to be going to at 2pm. Once Dana hung up, she grabbed a cup of coffee and joined the two boys.

"What am I going to?" Chris now asked.

"Discussions with the wedding venue," Dana said matter-of-factly, "You do remember about that, right?"

"Ye...no." Chris shook his head.

Sam couldn't help but snigger at Chris' honesty, and then at Dana rolling her eyes at him. She started berating him that the wedding was just three months away and he hadn't done anything to help yet. He got a pass while helping to save Dean, but now there was nothing stopping him. There hadn't even been any demon attacks since they dealt with Crowley.

Sam knew that Chris was avoiding everything to do with the wedding. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry Dana, but he didn't want to deal with the finer details. If it was up to Chris, he would have gone to Vegas and married her there. It was the moment of saying "I do" that mattered most to him, not the scale of the day.

Dana just wanted the day to be perfect. When she'd gotten Sam alone, she explained that it was because of her first marriage. The one back in the 1700s. She'd been forced to marry a man she didn't love, because that's just the way it was at the time. But she loved Chris' past life. They were soul mates, and all Dana had ever wanted was to find him again. It just happened that Chris was her charge's cousin, and the two hit it off. So with all that, she wanted it all to be perfect, and Sam couldn't really blame her.

"You're coming back for the wedding, right?" Chris turned to Sam, making sure the two Winchesters would be around.

"You're leaving?" Dana now asked, forgetting all about their mini argument for the time being.

"Probably," Sam told Dana about the Mustang started and then turned to Chris, "I'll make sure we're there, dude."

Chris grinned before grabbing the newspaper on the table. It was only Dana who missed the look of sadness in Sam's eyes. She knew that Sam didn't want to leave San Francisco. Just how was he going to tell his brother, and could he really let Dean go off on his own again?

* * *

><p><strong>I hope the start isn't too slow for you. I'd really love to know what you think about it. I can't wait to share the rest of the story.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Gabyhyatt, I'm really glad you enjoyed the start of the story. And thank you to Lord Harry Perevell for favoriting the story already. I'm really looking forward to sharing the whole thing with you both-and all those who are lurking and reading :)**

**Here's the next chapter. I will get into the story slowly, as I did before. Right now, I want to concentrate on building the relationship between Dean and Mel. I already have a possible short possibly three-shot for between the last story and this one, when they decide to put a label on their relationship. Let me know if you want to read it and I'll get writing it :)**

**For now, here's the chapter to read.**

Chapter 2

Dean kissed Melinda before rolling off of her. Her bed was so comfortable. He could just curl up and stay in it all day, especially with Melinda in his arms. He felt her lazily running her fingers over his chest, especially over his anti-possession tattoo. He was doing the same on her arm and back. He ran over the odd tattoo that she had. There were pentagrams, triquetras and all sorts of magical symbols on her body. He'd never noticed them the first couple of times he'd slept with her; or if he did he was too drunk to remember. As they started sleeping together while sober, he started to notice more and more on her body. They all meant something to her, whether they were wiccan symbols or family heritage.

"So, I guess this is going to be it now," Melinda finally said, causing Dean to frown, "The Mustang is up and running. You were only staying for that."

Dean could hear the disappointment in her voice. If he was being totally honest, he was disappointed to. He'd enjoyed spending so much time with her, and not just for the sex and the car. He loved being around Melinda. She brought a spark out of him that had been dead for a long time. They could laugh about the smallest things, and even their disagreements ended up with them laughing.

But as much as he loved being with her, he needed to get back on the road. He'd been on a couple of hunts with Sam since getting out of his deal, but they were close by. He couldn't help think about all the people out there who he was neglecting for his own happiness.

And that was the problem of Dean Winchester. Everyone else came before him. Sam's happiness always came first. Melinda's happiness was going to take precedent over him. Hell, even the happiness of strangers were put before his own. It was some sort of sadistic hero complex. Or maybe a punishment he was putting on himself for being such a shitty person now and then.

"I'll have to talk to Sammy, but yeah I guess we'll be leaving soon." Dean finally admitted. Melinda sighed and rolled to sit up. She wrapped a sheet around her before walking to the door to her bedroom.

"Where are you going?" He asked her, sitting up in the bed. Melinda looked back, with a look that said he was an idiot for asking.

"Shower! I'm covered in grease and sweat, and smell of sex and Dean Winchester!"

Melinda just winked before she left the room. Dean laid back down with a smirk, but he knew that she was disappointed that he was leaving. Melinda had asked three months ago for him to take her with him, but he'd refused. He'd agreed to stay and fix the Mustang and then they could talk about it. The discussion about her going hunting with him never did come up after that. Dean didn't want to bring it up, because he didn't really want her coming along. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend more time with her, but he didn't want to put her life at risk.

It was a ridiculous reason. Being in San Francisco was putting her life at risk. She was a Halliwell with some serious power and an attitude to match. Demons were after her and her family all the time. She would never be safe in the true sense of the word, whether he was around or not.

The more he thought about that, the more he realized that there wasn't a reason not to let her tag along. That was only if Sam agreed, though. He knew it would be awkward for Sam to have Dean's girlfriend tagging along.

When he heard the shower turn off, Dean got out of the bed and started pulling on his clothes. Maybe he would suggest something to Melinda now, but make it clear that it depended on Sammy. Actually, he needed to find out if she still wanted to come with him. A lot had changed over the last three months.

Melinda had finally talked about the reason for her drinking. Dean's heart broke for her when she told him everything. Within the space of weeks, she had watched demons kill her boyfriend and mother. It was no wonder she was struggling to cope. Wyatt and Chris couldn't understand that, but Dean could. He didn't see his dad die, but he'd seen plenty of other people he cared about die. He heard the gun go off as Sammy shot his own sort-of-girlfriend because she was a werewolf.

He also remembered watching Sam die. The night that Dean sold his soul, he actually felt Sam's life force leaving him. It was a memory that would never leave him, so he knew everything that Melinda was feeling. Wyatt and Chris-hopefully-never would.

When Melinda walked back into the room, now with a towel around her body, Dean decided to bring up the discussion.

"About leaving," he started and then looked at the hope in Mel's eyes through her mirror. Was she hoping he would ask her to come with her or to stay? "I wondered whether you still wanted to leave this place."

Melinda had thought about it for a while. She even considered bringing it up again the shower. After three months of things almost getting back to normal, she wasn't too sure. But then she realized that it was because Dean was here. She started wondering what she'd do without Dean around. Who would keep her sane every night?

And who would keep him sane every night? The torture he'd suffered at the hands of Crowley's goons had destroyed him deep down. He often woke up with cold sweats, and found that drinking was the only way to get some rest at times. They both needed each other, especially right now.

"Would you actually let me come along?" Melinda asked, pulling out a pair of jeans from her drawers and a tight fitting red tank top.

"I'd have to check with Sam," Dean admitted, putting his boots on so they could leave, "But I wouldn't say no. It's been good waking up with you on a morning."

"Is that the only reason, Cowboy?" Melinda asked with a smirk. Knowing Dean there was more, but he wasn't going to tell her. He kept a lot of his feelings to his chest, and she was exactly the same. Dean didn't answer her, but they could tell by the look they were giving each other that both knew there was definitely a deeper meaning.

* * *

><p>"Okay darling. It's okay," Wyatt soothed as he rocked his daughter. He paced the floor of the sun room at the Manor, but she still wasn't calming down "Just sleep, baby girl. That's all you need."<p>

The rocking was finally working. The little girl was finally falling asleep on her daddy's shoulder, and the crying stopped. Wyatt sighed with relief, but the silence didn't last long. The sound of the front door slamming and Dean's gruff voice shouting "Sammy" from the hallway. The noise woke the baby up and she started screaming again.

"Dean!" Wyatt muttered under his breath. There was no need to call him into the sun room. The crying was enough to alert him that someone else was in the house.

"Hey, Wy," Dean said with a guilty look on his face, "I'm sorry, man. Didn't realize you'd be here with Little Bit."

"Yeah, Bianca needed some time to sleep," Wyatt sighed, "So I came here with this one." They still hadn't named her after three months. While Wyatt knew he wanted to give her the name Piper after his mom, he wanted it to be a middle name. Bianca wanted her mom's name to also be a middle name, but now they were stuck on a first name. So far, nobody had come up with a sensible suggestion to work with Piper Lynn. It ended up with Dean calling her Little Bit and that stuck for now.

Since he'd woken the baby, Dean offered to take her from Wyatt. It would at least mean that Wyatt could sit down for a few minutes. Melinda had followed Dean into the room, and just smiled when she watched Dean rock the three-month-old to sleep.

"You're a natural, man," Wyatt shook his head as he sat down, "How the hell do you do it?"

"Apparently it's got something to do with getting the movement just right," Dean shrugged his shoulders, patting Little Bit on the back, "I don't know. I just remember doing it for Sammy when he was a baby."

Despite Dean being great with kids, they were not in his plans. At least not yet. If anyone had have asked him three months ago, he would have said not at all. After all, he was heading to Hell.

"Have you seen Sammy anywhere?" Dean now asked, but Wyatt shook his head.

"I orbed straight here, and I've not left the room since. I think everyone is avoiding us."

"I'll go find him." Mel laughed and left the room to search around the house. It gave Dean and Wyatt the chance to discuss a few things.

"How is fatherhood going?" Dean asked, "I've barely seen you."

"I know. Between me and Little Bit and you and Mel," Wyatt sighed, "But it's great. I'm more tired than I have ever been working at the hospital, but I wouldn't change it for the world."

"You're going soft, Halliwell." Dean laughed, keeping his voice quiet to keep the baby quiet.

"How's the Mustang going?" Wyatt now asked, closing his eyes but listening to everything that Dean was saying. At least, he was pretending to.

"It's all fixed," Dean answered, sitting down next to his friend but not putting Little Bit down. She was now out and wouldn't need rocking for a while, "We just got back from a test drive."

"Nice. So I guess that means you and Sammy will be going soon. That why you're looking for him?"

"That and wanted to ask him something," Dean replied, and then realized that it would be best to ask his friend the same question, "What would you say if I said Mel was coming with us?"

"Mel wants to, or you want her to?" Wyatt opened an eye to see Dean's expression. Dean could say anything he wanted, but Wyatt could tell by the look in his friend's eyes if he was serious or lying.

"A bit of both," Dean admitted with a small smile, "She wants away from here, Wyatt. Not away from you guys, but I think she could do with a fresh start."

"Sometimes I think we all could," Wyatt admitted, going back to closing his eyes, "I really do. But some of us have wives and children to think about."

Dean frowned, wondering whether Wyatt was having a dig at his lifestyle choice or partially resented having a wife and child. Something told him that there was a piece of resentment after everything that the Halliwells had been through.

Piper's death had hit Wyatt hard. He looked up to his mom—not as much as his dad, but still looked up to her. She'd taught him how to control his powers and he still remembered a time when it was just the two of them. Dean found out that Leo had left to become an Elder temporarily. Piper was pregnant with Chris, and Wyatt had snippets of memories where he acted out because he didn't understand. Then there was the time Leo had been frozen instead of killed, and it was just him, Chris and Piper. Seeing his mom's strength during those times gave Wyatt a respect for his mother nobody could destroy.

"So, what would you say about Mel coming?"

"As long as you look after her," Wyatt shrugged his shoulders, "I can't control my sister. You've seen that. I'm not going to pretend that I'm ecstatic that she's with you, and you know why."

Dean did know why. The two had had a few conversations, especially once they put the label on their relationship. Wyatt hated the fact that Dean was going to just up and leave at some point. The last thing the big brother wanted was for his sister to end up hurt. That was part of the reason Dean never wanted the label in the first place, but he couldn't help his heart. Mel had stolen it without him ever realizing.

"But you two...do you love each other?"

"I don't know, man," Dean laughed almost to himself, "I'm not even sure I know what love is. But I know that I want to protect her and continue helping her. She's still healing."

"So are you."

"Maybe we still need each other," Dean admitted, "So, I have your permission at least to take her with me."

Wyatt nodded his head with a smile, "Chris' permission will be harder to get. He's not sleep deprived."

Dean chuckled at that comment and then looked at the door to the sun room. Sam and Mel walked into the room.

"Hey Dean," Sam smiled, "She suits you."

Dean glanced at Little Bit on his shoulder and just nodded his head. They just better not get used to it. Maybe one day...one day far far away from right now. He was happy with his life without the added complication of kids. And he'd never bring them up in the hunter lifestyle. Never.

"So, Mel said you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah, erm..." Dean looked around. He wasn't sure whether to have this conversation here, but he could hear the soft snores coming from Wyatt. Melinda jumped in to take her niece gently, so Dean and Sam could discuss things in another room. They choose the back garden, taking in the rest of the sun. It was going to get colder soon.

"What's up?" Sam asked, "You wanting to get on the road already?"

"Well, Mel's Mustang is fixed now," he admitted, putting his hands in his pockets, "But I wanted to check to see..."

"I don't want to go, Dean," Sam blurted out, finally admitted it to both himself and Dean, "I'd like to stay in San Francisco. Now I get that you want to go and I really hate to leave you to do it alone, but I just can't do it anymore. These last three months have been great."

Dean was taken aback by his brother's minor outburst, but he understood. Sam never did want this life. He wanted to be a lawyer, get married, have a couple of rugrats. He wanted the apple pie life. That wasn't for Dean. Even if he wanted it, the last three months made it clear that he couldn't really stay rooted to one spot for too long.

"Okay," Dean nodded, "You deserve that, Sammy."

"You're not going to try talk me out of this?" Sam asked with a frown. He really expected his brother to put up a fight.

"I was actually going to ask you what you thought about Mel coming along," Dean admitted with a shrug, "I didn't want it to be awkward with the three of us."

"So you wouldn't be alone?" Sam questioned with a smile. That was the one thing that he was really concerned about. Now that he knew Dean would have someone, he didn't feel as guilty about wanting to stay in San Francisco.

"No, not alone," Dean shook his head, "So, where you gonna stay? Here?"

"For now," Sam nodded, "Chris already said I could. I'll eventually look for my own place."

"You can have mine," Melinda offered from the doorway to the back garden. She'd been eavesdropping on the Winchester brothers, waiting to see how it would all go. She had to admit that she was worried Sam would say he didn't want her tagging along. It would be awkward for Sam if Mel was there and sleeping with Dean, "Turn it into your own place."

It was certainly all fitting into place perfectly.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what do you think? Please do leave a review and let me know. And if you want me to write the short one between this and the last story, let me know about that too :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Before I close my computer down for the New Year's Eve celebrations, I wanted to treat you to another chapter. I'm having so much fun continuing the stories in this universe and recently got a big idea. But it does mean that I'm having to change a few things that I had planned for the future. See, another reason why I don't like sharing a story before it's completed. Nothing in the last story or this one will be affected :)**

**I hope you all enjoy your New Year celebrations. Please stay safe and enjoy this when you get a chance to read it! "See" you in 2015.**

Chapter 3

"I want to know that my little girl will be protected," Leo warned Dean, "Your lifestyle...well, I know it's not much safer than the one here but..."

"I'll protect her, Leo," Dean nodded his head, understanding exactly what the man was telling him, "I'd never let anything happen to her. I'd die before that." And Dean knew that it was the truth. Then again, as Sam tended to put it, he did have a hero complex. He constantly focused on saving others rather than himself. Hell, he made a deal with someone similar to the devil just to be able to bring his brother back from the dead.

"You're not going!" Dean and Leo's attentions were pulled to the hallway. They made their way out of the kitchen to see Melinda adding something to her small duffel bag at the bottom of the stairs.

_At least she was packing light_, Dean couldn't help but note to himself. He was worried about that considering the space in the Impala. Girls were notorious for packing a lot of crap.

"I am, Chris." Melinda sighed, just as she and Chris reached the bottom of the stairs. Chris shook his head and then looked at Dean and Leo.

"You can't be seriously letting her go, Dad!" Chris needed backup here. Wyatt had already shared his belief that this would be good for Melinda. The girl had hardly been out of the state, unlike them. She needed adventure and she needed to be away from here. Chris hoped that his dad was telling Dean just where to go with the idea of taking Melinda away from them.

"It's Mel's choice, Chris," Leo shook his head, "If she wants to go, I'm not going to stop her."

"But we just lost Mom!"

"We lost her last year, Chris," Melinda sighed, rubbing her eyes out of frustration, "And it's not like I'm going to be dead! I'll be on the other side of the phone. God, you can orb to me if you really need to see me."

"What about the wedding?"

"Dean and I will be back for that, won't we?" Dean realized that she was now talking to him. He quickly answered with a 'yes' so the Halliwell siblings could continue arguing. Both of them were just as stubborn as each other. Wyatt had already warned Dean to look out for this. Melinda would never back down from a fight, so there was no point even bothering. Wyatt had inherited Leo's calming nature, which often meant he lost the arguments in the house. But it was better than the latter.

"I'm going, Chris," Melinda sighed, "I love you big brother, but you need to let me do this."

"Well, what about your car? You're just leaving that?"

"Dad will look after it, won't you?"

"Of course I will, darling." Leo smiled. Melinda could trust him with her baby, and he would make sure it got out on the road now and then.

"There's nothing keeping me here, Chris."

"What about the club? What about us?" Chris asked, with a frown. He didn't like the way she said that. It hurt him to think that Dean could offer her something that he and Wyatt couldn't.

"You have Dana, and Wyatt has Bianca and Little Bit," Melinda shrugged her shoulders, "You'll still be here for Dad, and I'm sure Sam will end up calling round now and then. He's taking my apartment off my hands."

Chris shook his head, realizing that he was going to have to stand down. Melinda had made it very clear that nobody was going to change her mind. After realizing that, he turned to Dean, warning him to look after his baby sister. As he told Leo, he wasn't going to have it any other way.

"Anyway, Pru said she'd look after the club, and Sam is going to be there to help out," Melinda now went through all of the logistics while she would be away, "Sam has the apartment and dad is looking after the car. You big brother are not allowed to touch her."

Chris smirked at his sister and then enveloped her into a bear hug. It was tight, and Melinda reciprocated it. She was going to miss everyone, but this really was something that she needed to do. There were too many painful memories, and if she was ever going to move on from everything that had happened, she needed to be away for now.

Melinda then ran to her dad, giving him a big hug, "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, sweetheart. Please be careful out there. Your mom would kill me if anything happened to you."

Melinda simply nodded with a smile, as Sam and Wyatt walked in from the sun room. They'd decided to stay out of the argument until it died down. While Wyatt and Melinda hugged, Dean and Sam embraced. This was the first time in a long time that they were going to be apart. Unlike the other times they separated, it was on good terms. Sam wanted a semi-normal life, and Dean needed to keep hunting. They understood each others' needs, and knew that each other would be safe. After all, both had at least one Halliwell to protect them.

"You call if you need any help with research, okay?" Sam told his brother.

"Of course," Dean laughed, "Can you see me with the books?"

Sam shook his head with a laugh, knowing that his brother would refuse to research if he had the option. As Dean said his goodbyes to the rest of the Halliwells, Sam turned his attention to Melinda.

"Look after my brother for me?" He asked her, but he knew he didn't have to. Those two were going to end up looking out for each other, and probably argue over who was doing the killing—or vanquish as Melinda often put it.

"Of course I will," Melinda grinned, "You do the same with my brothers? Make sure they don't end up at each others' throats without me around. I think trying to stop me drinking was the only thing that helped them over the last year."

Sam nodded and then pulled his brother's girlfriend into a hug. He realized then that he really was going to miss having the two of them around. But staying in San Francisco was right for him, at least right now. He wouldn't stop saving people, but he couldn't do all the travelling and hunting now. He'd rather just help the Halliwells if a demon popped up. Melinda could take his place for the time being.

"Let's hit the road, Mel," Dean sighed, making his way to the front door, "We're losing daylight."

Dean had already found a hunt for them. It was going to be a routine salt and burn by the looks of things on the internet, but he wanted to get there soon. When Mel started following him, he opened the door. But was soon knocked off his feet when a dark haired girl ran in, followed by another one. He instantly recognized them as Pru and Poppy Halliwell; the eldest and youngest daughters of Phoebe Halliwell.

Both the girls ignored Dean as they ran straight to Melinda, hugging her tight.

"We're gonna miss you, Cuz," Pru said, and Dean could tell that she was crying. He smiled softly at the scene. He never had anything like this, but he was happy to see that Melinda did. Despite everything this family had been through, they were still close, "I promise I will look after the club for you. It won't go under."

"Take care, Mel." Poppy now spoke but then quickly turned to Dean.

Dean couldn't help but smile as she ran to him and hugged him tight. This had been the girl that helped save his life. He learned that she had been astral projecting to him to keep him sane while he was being tortured. While he was recovering from the memories of the torture, he was never too sure whether she was a figment of his imagination or not. She couldn't have been—he'd never met her before those projections—but he couldn't get it all around his head at the time. He then learned that she had left clues for Chris and Sammy to find him just before he died of the infection that was spreading around his body from all the open cuts and breaks.

She was his little angel. And he would always remember that.

"Please look after her, Dean," Poppy now said, looking into his green eyes, "And remember, I can astral project to you at anytime. Just give me a call."

Dean kissed her forehead and nodded his head. She'd put her phone number in his phone so he could call anytime. He was determined never to do it, but at least it was there.

"Right, let's go." Melinda now smiled, and made her way out of the open door with her bag. Dean suddenly realized that he was the one holding them back, and quickly followed her. Throwing his and her bags into the trunk, Melinda said her final goodbyes and jumped into the passenger seat of the Impala. With a wave, Dean got into the driver's side and then looked at Mel, quickly kissing her.

"To Idaho." He simply stated.

"To Idaho."

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><p><strong>It's just a short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. I'll be getting into the swing of the story very soon.<strong>

**Please do let me know what you think in a review. I love reading them :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks again for your review, Gabyhyatt.**

**Here's the next chapter for you to read. It seems like so long ago since I wrote this now, even though it was just last month. But there's just been so much come through with this universe. **

**I'll get on with it for now, though :)**

Chapter 4

The Idaho gig was just a routine salt and burn. It was a good one to get back into the swing of hunting, while introducing Melinda to the hunter lifestyle. She was so used to being a witch, and it was a bit of a culture shock.

Luckily for Dean, she was a quick learner. He'd managed to pull off her showing her FBI badge upside down by saying that she was new to the job. It wasn't a lie, and Melinda threw her cute apologetic look to him.

"He joked this would happen." She'd said to the sheriff of the town, who just looked between them as if they were idiots. It wasn't going to be something that Dean let her forget anytime soon, but it wasn't disastrous.

Now they were back at the motel room, looking for their next hunt after a spot of lunch...and sex. One of the great things Dean found about hunting with his girlfriend is that it was much easier getting laid. There was no need to go out to a bar to find a quick hook-up. When the two were horny, they would be there.

It wasn't all roses, and Dean never expected that. They had their arguments, just like Dean and Sam often argued during their cases. But it was always over the stupid things, like deciding on where to eat and who was driving. It was somewhat normal, and Dean was happy; happier than he'd been in a long time.

He just hoped Melinda felt the same. He wanted to talk to her about that, but could never get the words out. So, he just went with the things she did tell him and the things she did. He took it that she was happy, and would have said if she wasn't.

"I'm fine, Pru, really," Melinda said as she walked back into the motel room with two cups of coffee. Melinda had decided the coffee was needed since they were likely getting back on the road soon. She was on her cell phone, obviously talking to her cousin, "I'll call you later. Thanks for the tip."

"Tip?" Dean's ears picked up as Melinda threw her phone on the king's sized bed in the room and placed the cardboard holder with the coffees on the table that he was reading the paper at.

"Pru thinks they found a case for us. It's in a small town in Minnesota, though."

"Okay," Dean shrugged his shoulders. He didn't mind driving, "What is it?"

Melinda wasn't too sure, but Sam had been the one to find it online. Melinda grabbed the laptop and did a quick search online, and then showed the report that she suspected to Dean. It certainly seemed like one of their gigs. Some guy had turned up mauled to death inside a locked room. It screamed ghost or witch to him.

"Pack your crap then." Dean simply said, throwing together all of his own stuff and putting it all in his duffel bag. He grabbed the car keys from his girlfriend, while she sorted out her own bags. She didn't look too impressed to realize that she wasn't going to be the one driving to Minnesota. It wasn't that Dean didn't trust her to drive, but he didn't trust many people to drive his baby. It was hard enough letting her drive it to grab food and coffees every now and then.

"So, how is Pru?" Dean asked as they headed out of the motel parking lot and on the way to the highway towards Minnesota.

"Okay," Melinda nodded, "She's having a bit of boyfriend drama with Riley."

"What's that boy done now?" Dean asked, laughing at himself for calling him a boy. He and Riley were almost the same age. Actually, Riley was about six months older than Dean. Definitely not a boy. But he acted like it sometimes.

"He was in the demon bar again," Mel rolled her pretty green eyes and quickly looked down at her phone as a text came through, "Chris had him getting some information. He's avoiding Dana while she plans their wedding."

"Yeah, I don't blame him," Dean laughed, "I'd rather hunt than plan a wedding."

"Ditto," Melinda laughed. A flash of surprise crossed Dean's face as he looked at his girlfriend. She looked up at him, defensively, "What?"

"You wouldn't want to plan a wedding?" He asked her, "You're a girl. All girls want to plan their wedding day. You've probably already got it planned."

He didn't really feel comfortable talking about marriage considering he was Melinda's current boyfriend and they'd only been dating for three months now, but he could just pretend that he wasn't the person she was picturing right now.

"I never did plan my wedding, Dean," Melinda shook her head, "If you can't tell, I'm not a typical girl. I think if I ever did get married—and it's a big if—it would be a quickie in Vegas."

"Uh!" Dean simply said and then turned his eyes to the road. Maybe he had found the perfect girl for him after all. Getting married was never something that had crossed his mind, choosing not to bring someone into this life. But if he did have to, a quickie in Vegas definitely sounded like a plan.

* * *

><p>Sam glanced at his phone, seeing his brother's name pop up on the screen. They'd barely been out of contact since Dean and Melinda had left for hunting. It was nice to know that his brother was still doing something he liked but hadn't cut contact with Sam altogether.<p>

He knew why his brother was calling, though. It was to do with the case that Sam and Pru had found a couple of days ago. Dean and Melinda had agreed to go to Minnesota to check it out.

The problem was Sam was behind the bar at P3. He was keeping it running with Pru for Melinda. He wondered whether Dean was happy about some legitimate money coming in, rather than constantly relying on the credit card fraud.

The phone had stopped ringing by the time Sam got to the backroom of P3, but Sam knew Dean would ring back. As if on cue, he did.

"Hey Dean," Sam said, opening the door to find Pru sitting behind the desk looking at some paperwork. He gave a small wave and then sat down on the couch, "What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Sammy," Dean replied through the phone, "Everything okay? You usually answer right away."

"Sometimes I'm busy doing normal people things," Sam laughed. Would his brother ever stop worrying about him? Sam resigned himself to believe that it would never happen. Melinda may take first place and there may be rugrats in the future, but Dean would never stop worrying about his "kid brother" as long as they both lived, "So, what can I do for you?"

"You got an internet connection handy?" Dean asked. By this point Sam had already put the phone on speaker so Pru could hear everything too. The two realized right away that they were going to become the researchers. Neither Dean or Melinda really liked the books,

"I'm at the computer, Dean, so shoot with your questions." Pru called out with a smile.

"Hey, Pru!" Melinda called from somewhere in the motel room. So, Dean had put his phone on speaker too. It made sense so they didn't have to repeat any information.

"Hey, Mel!"

"Sammy, I need to know more about the Blackwood family. They're rich fuckers here." Dean now said, preventing the cousins from discussing anything other than the case he and Mel were currently on.

"Blackwood? Blackwood..." Pru started typing in Google to find out as much as possible about the Blackwood family. Luckily she already had a location because Blackwood turned out to be a very common name.

"Okay, there's not that much but there is a website," Pru answered, "It looks like a lot of lore."

"Yeah, that's what we came up with," Melinda sighed, "Do you think you can look through it? We need to go and help deal with something but we also need to know more."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"This family's hiding something, Sammy," Dean replied, "There's something weird going on and I can't tell what. We're trying to figure out whether were dealing with a ghost or not."

"I'll see what I can dig up for you guys," Sam sighed, "Let me know if you find anything while you are out there."

"Cheers, Sammy. I owe you one." Dean said before hanging up the phone.

Sam sighed, looking at Pru. She just had an amused look on her face, "I don't think I'm ever going to get out of the family business completely."

"You love it really." Pru smirked and sat back in the chair. Sam had to admit that he did enjoy helping people. He was just glad that he could use his smarts rather than everything else that came with hunting.

"So, how are you and Riley?" Sam asked while he was in the backroom with Pru. He'd wanted to ask yesterday but there was never a moment alone. He knew that Riley was up to something, and Pru wasn't happy with it.

"We'd be great if he'd stop going to that demon bar," Pru sighed, pulling the paperwork back in front of her, "I don't know what Chris has him doing."

"Chris is just trying to take his mind off the wedding," Sam said, trying to make Pru feel better, but he could tell that she wasn't too certain about that, "You know once the wedding is over, everything will go back to normal."

"Sam, this is normal," Pru sighed, "Even if Chris wasn't going hunting because he wanted to avoid wedding planning, Riley would find some reason to go down to that bar. It's like he has a death wish or something."

Sam could tell there was more to this, but it didn't seem like Pru wanted to talk too much about it. She went straight back to her paperwork.

"I'm here if you do want to talk, Pru."

"Thanks, Sam." Pru smiled before Sam walked out of the backroom and back behind the bar. He worried about her and Riley needed to know that he was hurting her. But it wasn't exactly his place to say anything. It wasn't really his place to pry into her relationship with the half-manticore.

* * *

><p>"Melinda?" Dean shouted out as he walked through the deserted house. He should have never let her go off on her own. Now she'd gone missing, and panic raced through Dean. What if she'd been taken? They still didn't really know what they were dealing with.<p>

"Son of a..." Melinda coughed from one of the rooms. Dean quickly ran through and found her lying on the floor. There was wood all around her, suggesting that she's been thrown into something. There was no chance that Dean was working out what it was.

"Don't you ever run away from me like that again!" Dean warned her, realizing that he sounded like a father of a toddler.

"Calm it, Dad!" Melinda rolled her eyes and clambered to her feet. Dean helped her up and then looked into her eyes. He brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"You had me worried," Dean admitted, "I didn't know..."

"I'm fine. I'm a big girl, Dean," Melinda sighed and then rolled her shoulders and neck, "Besides, now I know what we're dealing with. So, who do we need to salt and burn?"

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><p><strong>It's really just a chapter to show some of the character development more than anything else. I will get into the main storyline very very soon. But I'd love to hear what you think about it. Thanks!<br>**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you, again, gabyhyatt for your review. And I have a new follower: countryheart. Thanks so much. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it.**

**I'm awake at some ungodly hour struggling to sleep, so what better way to use the time than by sharing an update for this story? It seems to make sense to me :) Here it is.**

Chapter 5

Dean sat on the motel bed, waiting for a phone call. Melinda had gone back out for food for them, mainly because she was starving. He didn't mind. It gave him a minute to collect his thoughts.

Bringing Melinda with him was a bad idea. He should never have agreed to her coming hunting. Sure, she had been helpful with the ghost in Idaho, but she'd nearly gotten herself killed with this one. He was so scared that he was about to lose her. He would need to keep her close from now on, and make sure that nothing happened to her.

The phone rang, pulling Dean from his thoughts. He looked down and saw that Sam was calling.

"Hey, Sammy," Dean faked a smile as he answered the phone, "Have you found anything?"

"Yeah, Dean," Sam answered, "I'm putting you on speaker. Pru's here."

"Okay," Dean sighed, "Hey, Pru."

"Hey. Is Mel there?"

"Erm, no...she..." Dean started. He couldn't help but think of the fear that went through him when he thought he was losing her, "She's gone out to grab food."

"Is everything okay there, Dean?" Sam now asked. Dean wished Mel was never brought up. He had always struggling to lie to his brother. He could keep a poker face when he needed to, but he couldn't like about something like this.

"It's fine, Sammy," Dean tried to keep his voice was wavering, "Do you know much about the Blackwoods yet?"

"Well, there's something about a ghost in their family," Pru now answered, acting as if there was nothing wrong. Dean couldn't see Sammy's face, but he could picture it, "A guy call Archibald Blackwood. He was the patriarch of the family at one point but..."

"Died a gruesome death?" Dean asked.

"It doesn't really say much about his death, Dean." Pru disagreed with the hunter and continued telling him all about the information she had found. It turned out that whatever death it was—most likely gruesome—the family had agreed to appease the spirit rather than deal with it. For one week every year, a different person each night was to be brought to the Blackwood estate. They would be killed to appease the spirit.

"So, that's why they didn't want to chat much," Dean sighed, "Guess they couldn't give up that sordid past. So where's this guy buried?"

"He was cremated, Dean." Sam sighed, just as the door to the motel room opened. Melinda walked in with two fast food bags, and put them and Dean's car keys on the table. Dean smiled and put the phone on speaker.

"Okay, Mel's here now. You're on speaker," Dean announced, "So, if he was cremated, how is he still around?"

"Is he connected to something in this world?" Sam suggested, "Or maybe there was something made from something of his. You remember that creepy girl ghost."

"Oh yeah. Portraits still give me the creeps." Dean laughed.

"There was a ring," Melinda spoke for the first time since getting back to the motel room, "The eldest son was twirling it on his finger. I got the feeling that it was special."

"That could be it," Dean said and then looked at the phone, "We'll see if that's it. If you do find out anything else, can you give us a call?"

"Of course, Dean."

"Bye, Mel! Miss you!"

"Miss you, too, Pru." Melinda called out before Dean hung up the phone and looked directly at Mel.

"We eat and then we take care of this ghost. It's killing one person per night."

"Then we'd best be quick."

Dean didn't tell Melinda the doubts he was having. They would wait another time, but he would be keeping a closer eye on her. He couldn't lose her.

* * *

><p>"Agent Richards!" the elderly Mrs. Blackwood exclaimed, seeing Dean standing at the door. She then looked over at Melinda, "Agent Collins. I didn't think you would be back tonight."<p>

"Sorry, we just have a few questions to follow up on." Dean smiled sweetly, hoping the little old lady would let them into the house.

"Couldn't this wait until the morning?" The eldest son, Michael, stood behind his aging mother, arms folded across his chest. The woman they could have possibly have gotten past, but this guy not a chance. But then Dean remembered that Melinda thought this guy had a ring that belonged to Archibald Blackwood; that the ghost was attached to that. It was useful that he was here.

"I'm sorry, it's very urgent," Melinda tried to use her charm to work her way back into the house, "Would you mind? The sooner we get through these questions, the sooner we can leave you."

Mrs. Blackwood nodded her head and let the two "agents" into the house. Michael sighed and said something about fixing a pot of coffee.

While Melinda discussed things with Mrs. Blackwood, finding out as much about Archibald as possible and finding out what the old woman knew about the man, Dean said he was going to help Michael. However, he was really going to snoop around the house. That was a big mistake. He soon came in contact with the ghost of Archibald.

Melinda heard Dean yell, and instantly looked upwards. She was about to run out of the room, but Michael appeared in the doorway, without coffee. He was not going to let her go.

"We need a sacrifice for tonight," Michael explained, "Your partner will do for that and you will keep for tomorrow."

Melinda was a little lost at what to do. While they were evil, they weren't exactly demons. Melinda couldn't just zap them with her powers like she would a demon. But she needed to get to Dean.

* * *

><p>Dean pulled the pistol out from in his belt and fired it towards the ghost of Archibald. The ghost disappeared, giving Dean a chance to get out of the room that he'd found himself trapped in. But as he tried the door, he realized that it wasn't going to open. The ghost had gotten him trapped, and was using him as his next victim.<p>

* * *

><p>"You can't just sacrifice people."<p>

"We can," Mrs. Blackwood nodded, "That is what must be done. If we don't, then Archibald will take one of my boys and I refuse to let that happen."

"Seven innocent people a year to keep one family member safe?" Melinda found the whole idea ludicrous, "Do you have any idea how selfish that makes you?"

"I will not let my boys die." Mrs. Blackwood said. Melinda refused to stand by while Dean was in trouble. She tried to push past Michael, but he stopped her. She wasn't getting anywhere. She needed to do something, and she only had one option right now.

"We can stop this. We can stop all of it and make Archibald disappear." Melinda looked between Michael and Mrs. Blackwood.

"What do you mean?" Michael now frowned.

"Your ghost is attached to something here, something that was his."

Michael's eyes instantly looked down at his ring. Melinda knew it. She noticed that it looked old; old enough to have been in the Blackwood family for generations.

"If I destroy that, I think it will get rid of your ghost."

"You can't destroy that," Mrs. Blackwood argued, "It's a family heirloom."

* * *

><p>Dean shot his pistol at the ghost again, hoping to God that Melinda was down there sorting all this out. She didn't even know where he was, but something told him that she knew he was in trouble. She was fixing this. She just had to!<p>

The ghost appeared again and Dean aimed his pistol. The only problem was this time he was out of salt bullets. There was nothing in it to help keep the ghost away. Archibald laughed and swung his arm, hitting Dean in the face. Dean flew through the air, hitting a wall hard.

* * *

><p>"Mom, I can't keep killing innocent people," Michael finally said and gave Melinda the ring, "Do what you must with it. Just stop him."<p>

Michael gave her the ring, and she looked around. The fire was burning. She quickly threw it into the fire, and watched the metal melt away.

* * *

><p>The ghost was placing his hand into Dean's chest. This was it. This was going to be his death. It seemed quite ironic that he'd only lived a few months after his date with Hell had passed. He should have known that he wouldn't live past that.<p>

Dean braced himself for the feeling of the ghost's hand around his heart, but then everything stopped. The ghost screamed and just vanished.

"Dean!" Melinda's voice called out from somewhere in the house. Dean looked around, searching for Archibald. But he wasn't around. It was over. Melinda had come through, "Dean? Talk to me."

"In here!" Dean called out, and sighed with relief when Melinda ran into the room. She was followed by Michael.

"Thank God!" Melinda sighed and ran straight over to Dean. She grabbed his face in her hands, "Don't you ever do that to me again. You hear me?"

"Yes, Mom." Dean laughed, remembering her words to him last night. It seemed like poetic justice that he'd been the one to run off and nearly get himself killed this time. Now at least Mel knew how he felt last night. But he also knew what it was like to be on the receiving end.

* * *

><p>Dean wrapped up the conversation with Sammy, while Melinda drove them back to the motel. Dean had wanted to, but his arm was in agony. Something had happened during the fight with the ghost. Melinda wasn't going to let him drive the Impala.<p>

Once he hung up the phone, he glanced over at his girlfriend. She had held her own in that house. She's stopped the ghost and saved his life. He knew she could do it, but it didn't stop him worrying about her. But it turned out that they were both as bad as each other. Both had a habit of running into the line of fire or searching for something without waiting for the other.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to keep an eye on Melinda, though. He still knew deep down that he couldn't lose her.

"So, does Sammy have a new case for us already?" Melinda questioned as she pulled into the motel parking lot.

"Nope," Dean laughed, "We have a day or so to chill. What do you feel like doing?"

"Oh, I can think of a few things." Melinda grinned and then kissed Dean before getting out of the Impala. Dean groaned but followed her anyway. He knew exactly what she had on her mind.

As Dean followed her into the motel, they both missed the car that was parked at the other end of the parking lot. A man watched the hunter and the witch carefully, making sure not to show his face to anyone who may have looked into the car. He looked down at a book in his hand. It was a small journal with a series of pictures of Melinda Halliwell. She was next on his list. But in time. She would be his in time.

* * *

><p><strong>Dum dum dum...<br>**

**So, I'd love to know what you think about this chapter? Within a few chapters, the main story will come out, but I did want to show a scene or two of them on hunts together. Remember, I really do love reading reviews :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**I just love reading what you think about my stories, thank you again for leaving reviews.**

**Here's the next chapter that you've all been waiting for. Is it Death or not...**

Chapter 6

Melinda and Dean were heading down Highway 66 on their way to a new hunt. They'd been on the road for six weeks now, and had enjoyed most of it. Sure, they had argued but anyone did when they were in close quarters like they were. They actually found that taking a break from each other now and then worked for them. One of them would go to a bar, or Melinda would go for a run to clear her head. By the time either returned, they had calmed down and could discuss things rationally.

However, this time they were arguing and neither of them couldn't escape. It was the middle of the night, and there was no way one of them could just get out of the car for a few hours. Dean was keeping an eye out for somewhere to stay for the rest of the night. He just needed to get away from Melinda.

It had all started because of their last hunt.

"_You can't just run off like that," Dean shouted at Melinda, "I was worried sick! I've told you that you need to tell me..."_

"_Oh and you tell me when you run off following some lead?" Melinda argued back, fed up of the double-standard. She had put up with it at first, but now it was like Dean didn't trust her to hold her own. It was like he was waiting for her to get injured, just so he could say 'I told you so.' Well, Melinda knew that wasn't going to happen, "You can't keep babying me, Dean. I can hold my own."_

"_You can't always use your powers though, Mel!" Dean exclaimed, "When you're dealing with humans you have to act normal."_

"_I know that," Melinda sighed, "But I don't just mean I can hold my own because of my powers. I can fight, and you know that. I'm not that bad with a rifle, either. At least I didn't almost get a kid killed."_

_Dean clenched his jaw. Did she have to bring that up? It was an accident. The kid got in the way just as he was trying to kill the demon they'd come across on their hunt. The kid's heart actually stopped, but Melinda was right here. She used her electricity power with a lower voltage. Enough to restart his heart. Dean couldn't believe what her power could do. He'd never seen something like that before. She'd never said that her power could save lives as well as kill demons._

The problem is that incident had led to a bigger argument now. It seemed that Dean was allowed to make mistakes, but Mel wasn't. Dean was allowed to run off, but Mel wasn't. Dean was allowed to do a lot of things that Melinda wasn't, and it was really getting on her nerves. She was really hating the double-standard that he was forcing on her.

She got it that he worried about her. She worried about him too. But one thing that she couldn't stand was being moddy-coddled. Having Dean constantly trying to protect her and play hero was just getting to be too much.

Their argument had gotten so big this time that Melinda had taken to giving Dean the silent treatment. She stared out of the window, but couldn't see anything. It was just too dark on the road. Really, she was staring back at her own reflection. She wanted to call Pru or maybe Wyatt or Chris. She needed to talk to someone about how much of a dick Dean was being right now.

Dean, on the other hand, was quite happy with things the way they were. Mel may have been angry with him, but at least he knew that she was safe. That was what matted to him the most. She needed to be safe. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to him.

Dean was going to have his work cut out for him. He never realized that the same car had been following him for the last six weeks. There was one man who had his eyes set on Melinda Halliwell, and neither of them knew anything about it.

Dean finally found a motel on the road and pulled into it. He needed to stop anyway, but the silent treatment from Melinda was driving him crazy. It was a taste of his own medicine. He remembered giving Sammy the silent treatment all the time when he'd pissed him off.

Now Dean wasn't sure whether the silence was better than the arguing. He knew that something was brewing inside Melinda, and it wouldn't be pretty when she let it all out. There would be fireworks, and not the good kind. And he didn't really think that it would lead to angry sex, either.

Melinda remained in the car while Dean sorted out the room for them. He saw a young kid at the desk, and frowned when he checked the time. It was almost six in the morning, of course a child would be up at this time.

"My mommy will be here soon, sir." The little girl grinned up at Dean and then just stared at him. Dean grinned at the little girl, just nodding his head. When the mother didn't turn up for a few minutes, the little girl shouted for her again.

The mother finally turned up, apologizing for the wait. It certainly seemed like she had her hands full. There was a baby in her arms, and by the looks of it another child in the back. Poor thing was probably running this place with the hope of making ends meet.

"Just a single?"

"No, a double please," Dean said automatically. He'd originally planned to get two queens to give Melinda some space, but they would have to work this out eventually, "My girl's in the car."

The mother nodded her head and asked the little girl to grab one of the keys. While she did, Dean handed one of the fake credit cards over so she could swipe it. When he got back to the car, Melinda wasn't there. His eyes instantly went wide, and he started looking around the immediate vicinity. Where the hell had she gone?

He sighed with relief when he finally found her sitting on a bench close to the parking lot.

"Melinda, you are seriously going to give me a heart attack!" Dean exclaimed, "C'mon I've got us a room."

Melinda just stood up and followed him into the room. Their bags could wait for now. Dean needed to get her talking to him again. He hated the silent treatment.

The only problem was Melinda went straight to the bathroom. Sighing, he decided to grab the bags anyway. Hopefully she'd be finished by the time he got back into the room. When she came back out of the room, he could tell that she'd been crying. He'd done this to her, and he felt so guilty for it. He needed to make it up to her, but part of that would mean apologizing for something he wasn't sorry for.

"Look, Mel..." Dean started but Melinda put her hands up.

"I get it that you're all protective, Dean," Melinda sighed, "I just can't keep doing it this way. You need to let me be me. You need to let me save innocents. That's what I do. That's what my family has done for centuries."

"But the creatures out there..."

"Are just like the demons I faced at home. If you keep acting like this, Dean, I'm gonna go back home. If that's what you want me to do, then please tell me."

"No, I don't want you to go home, Melinda," Dean sighed, admitted to himself that that was certainly the truth. He wanted her to stay because he loved the fact that she was here. But he couldn't help worry about her safety, "I just want you to be careful."

"Well, then you have to be careful, too," Melinda sighed, "Do you not get this double-standard you're setting? You're worse than my brothers. Is it because I'm a girl?"

"What?"

"Do you not want me chasing demons because I'm a girl? Is that why you worry about me so much."

"No, of course not!" Dean knew that she could handle herself. He was not a chauvinistic pig. Yes, he liked women and enjoyed sex, but he had full respect for women who could hold their own, "I just...I worry about you, Melinda."

"I can take care of myself," she told him, running her hands through her brown locks, "I worry about you, too, though. But you don't see me stopping you from running after monsters and ghosts and the like. I need you to let me do that, too. If you don't, innocents could die and I would never forgive myself or you if that happened."

"I didn't realize." Dean frowned, suddenly understanding the whole reason for the arguments. This was the first time Melinda had managed to talk about this without shouting at him about there being double-standards. When she brought innocents into it, she definitely had a point. As he thought about it more, she was definitely right about that.

But that didn't help him change his own thoughts. If something happened to her, he would never forgive himself. He wasn't sure where to go from here.

Why couldn't it be like when he was hunting with Sam? He didn't worry about his brother this much. Sure, he wanted to protect his baby brother, but he trusted him to handle part of a case on his own. It was very different with Melinda. Maybe part of that was because she was a girl. But there was another reason. One that he wasn't willing to admit to himself yet.

"Well, we've still not found another hunt yet. Why don't we take a day off from the travelling, and stay here?"

"That sounds good. I could do with a shower."

With that, Melinda grabbed her bag and went back into the bathroom. Dean wanted to follow her, but he heard the door locked. She wanted some time alone, and Dean was going to respect that. He would respect it by sleeping.

* * *

><p>Melinda sat on the bed, mindlessly flicking through the channels. There was absolutely nothing on the TV, but she was sure she'd find some random crap to put on. In the end, she turned it off and put the radio on. Maybe that would have something decent to listen to.<p>

Dean had gone out to a bar for a drink. They'd been here for 24 hours now and he said he needed to clear his head, and wanted to do it alone. Melinda wondered whether coming with him on this hunting trip had been a bad idea. What they had at the Manor was good, but it seemed the honeymoon period was over. Now all they seemed to do was argue. She knew why. It was all to do with him being overprotective.

Maybe Mel should just give him a break. He was a big brother, and that automatically made him protective. She knew what both of her big brothers were like. To top that off, Dean had a hero complex. He needed to save people, and one of those people was going to be Melinda.

Yes, she had to lighten up about his attitude. She had to accept him for the way he was. If she was honest, deep down she was grateful for the way he acted. At least he cared about her. She would only complain if it was the other way round. But it would be nice if he would acknowledge that she was powerful and good at what she did. Maybe she could ask him to do that the next time.

Turning the TV off, Melinda decided that she was going to make it up to Dean. And she had the perfect way to do that.

* * *

><p>Dean sat at the bar, staring at the glass of whiskey in his hand. He hated this feeling. The feeling that he had disappointed people. He'd spent years feeling his father's disappointment when he did something wrong. Now he'd disappointed Melinda with his protective attitude.<p>

It was in Dean's nature to protect her. He knew that she could handle herself. He'd seen her restart a heart with her damned powers, and then saw her kill a demonic bastard with them. She was amazing. And he was now completely screwing things up.

They'd talked about this, but the whole thing was playing on his mind. She hadn't really spoken to him all day, except for finding out if they had another case.

Dean sighed and looked up at the barman, getting his attention. He just signalled for another drink, and finished what was left in his glass. The barman poured some more whiskey in the glass, with a sympathetic smile.

"Girl trouble?"

"You don't want to know, man." Dean shook his head, knowing that the barman really didn't want to know. And Dean really didn't want to go into it.

The barman just walked away, letting Dean get on with drowning his sorrows. It was two glasses later that he figured Melinda would be asleep. He could get back to the motel room and climb into the bed with her. He didn't want another argument with her tonight. He wanted to sleep and sort it out in the morning.

Just as he was about to pay for his drinks, the door to the bar opened. It was fairly quiet, and Dean noted that it probably wasn't going to get much busier than it was. He was quite surprised that someone else was walking in at this time.

He couldn't see the face, but from the body he could tell it was a girl. She had a black corseted top and a short denim skirt. Her body was perfect, and then Dean mentally kicked himself. He couldn't think that way. He had a girlfriend back in his motel room. Sure, they had had a fight, but he wasn't the type of guy to cheat on her. He would never hurt her in that way.

Dean couldn't help but glance at the girl again. He looked down at the thigh-high boots, noting that they were very similar to the ones that Melinda wore their first night...Dean laughed to himself as he thought about that first night. It was amazing.

No, he wasn't allowed to think about that right now. He still needed to make up to her before he could jump her bones.

Dean was so caught up in his thoughts that he never realized the woman who had walked in was sat right next to him.

"Aren't you gonna buy me a drink?"

"Sorry, lady, I've got a girlfriend," Dean answered and then looked up at the woman. He was suddenly taken aback. Why the hell didn't he realize who it was when she walked in? He'd noted that the boots were the same as Melinda. It turned out that this was Melinda. She'd gotten dressed up and decided to come down to the bar, probably guessing that this was where Dean was, "But if you want something...what can I get you?"

"Same as you."

Dean got the attention of the barman and indicated he wanted two more whiskeys. The barman obliged, and didn't pull a face when he saw that Dean was getting one of the gorgeous brunette next to him. Dean knew that all eyes were on this girl, and why not? She was drop dead gorgeous. The best thing was he knew that she was going to come back to his motel room with him.

After Dean had left for the bar, Melinda decided to surprise him. She'd brought the clothes she often wore when pretending to be a demon. Instead of going hunting though, she wanted to turn him on. She got dressed and made her way to the bar down the street, knowing that was exactly where Dean had gone. He wanted to think about his actions but the Impala was still in the parking lot of the motel. He wouldn't have walked far.

She's spotted him as soon as she'd walked in, but Dean hadn't seemed to see her. When he turned her down at buying the drink at first, she was ecstatic. Deep down she knew he would never cheat, but he had just proven that. It had proven that he really did care about her, and that meant more than words could say. Of course, it all changed as soon as he realized it was her, and his face really was a picture.

But she wasn't really in the mood for drinking or for talking. Once the barman had poured the two drinks, she quickly downed it and stood up, grabbing Dean's shirt. She leaned into him, putting her spare hand onto his crotch. Her hot breath on Dean's ear made him hard instantly.

"You're coming home with me."

"I am, am I?" Dean just asked, with a cocky grin. He didn't argue, though. He stood up, put money on the bar for the drinks, downed his whiskey and then let himself be led out of the bar. He could feel eyes burning into him as the other men realized that he was the lucky guy to go home with this smoking hot piece of ass. Was he even allowed to call his girlfriend that?

As soon as they were out of the bar, Melinda turned around and kissed Dean hard and passionately. It was like their first night again, and Dean was already turned on.

"Me..." Dean started but Melinda cut him off. She didn't want to talk. She just wanted to give into the animalistic passion she was feeling right now. Dean was certainly not complaining about it, either.

He pinned her up against the wall of the bar, trapping her wrists above her head with one hand, and feeling down her body with the other while kissing her passionate. His body pushed up hard against her, as he let her know just how hard he was already getting from her stunt tonight.

"Your place or mine?" Melinda now asked with a wink, panting heavily as Dean pulled away from the kiss. Dean just grinned and pulled her back to the motel.

It took them a while to get back to the motel. They'd keep stopping off to grind against each other and feel each other's bodies. Once they finally did get to the motel, Melinda fumbled with the key in the lock. Dean used this chance to push her brown hair to one side and start kissing up her neck. She moaned as he nibbled on her earlobe and felt her breasts through her corseted top. It was the exact same top as their first night.

Before they even got into the room, Dean started unfastening the hook and eye clasps. She'd be topless if she wasn't quick with the door, and Dean didn't care.

Finally, Melinda got the door unlocked, and Dean turned her around to face him. He led her backwards past the door and slammed it shut with his foot. She finished taking her top off, and Dean followed suit, quickly followed by his boots and jeans. Melinda took off her skirt, followed by her panties. She was about to take her boots off, but Dean slapped her hands away gently.

"They're staying on for now." Dean told her and then knelt down to kiss the bits of skin on the inside of her thigh that were still visible. He widened her legs and licked up her slit, causing her to moan in pleasure. His hands rubbed into her hips, and she couldn't help but grab them as she laid back on the bed. He smiled against her, feeling her body move as her back arched.

Placing a finger and then a second one inside her, he knew that she was close to coming. He continued licking and played as she started to tense and then shuddered, with a muffled moan. Glancing upwards he could see she'd placed her hand in her mouth to bit on it so their motel neighbors didn't hear them.

She was left panting on the bed, as Dean stood and took his boxers off. He was ready to pounce on her, right now. Tonight was all about the lust and that sexual need. Thoughts of apologies left his mind. They could wait until tomorrow.

He grabbed an arm around Melinda's lower back and helped her climb further up the bed, before attacking her mouth again. Without any warning he pushed inside of her, making her moan in pleasure again. He kissed her hard as he pumped in and out as hard as he could. The frustrations from the argument earlier were coming out now, and he was making it clear that he needed to get it all out.

He wasn't the only one. Melinda didn't give Dean much of a chance to get a rhythm, before she forced him to roll them over. She climbed up on top of him and started rocking back and forth, as quickly and as hard as she could. Dean perched up on his elbows as Melinda leaned down to kiss him hard.

With one hand, he grabbed her thigh hard. He would probably leave bruise on her delicate skin, but he didn't care right now. Deciding that she had had enough time on top, he rolled them back over so he could take control. He then grabbed her legs and put them over his shoulders, as he continued to pump in and out.

They were both getting close. Dean could feel Melinda tensing up around him, and that was helping him get closer. With one, two, three pumps, he finally released inside of her. Melinda's legs dropped to around his elbows, as he felt his seed fill her. As he released, he heard Melinda cry out from the pleasure. She'd come a second time. Good!

Dean let Melinda's legs down and then leaned on his elbows over her. He couldn't help but play with her hair, as he looked into her eyes.

"You know, I never got your name." Dean winked, pretending that he really had just picked her up from a bar.

"What would your girlfriend think?" Melinda now smirked, making Dean chuckle. He rolled off her, so she could sit up to take her thigh-high boots off. God, they were hot.

Dean climbed under the covers of the motel bed, and then waited for Melinda to climb in too. They didn't say anything else. Melinda just snuggled into Dean, running her hands along his chest. He ran his hand across the small of her back.

It was blissful being like this. All thoughts of their previous argument were gone, waiting for the conversation about it tomorrow. For now, Dean just drifted off into a peaceful sleep, knowing that his girlfriend was back at his side.

While the two slept, they missed the fact that the car that had followed them for the last six weeks was outside the motel room. The same white-haired man that had been there the whole time was now filling a pistol with bullets. He was going to be ready to use them.

* * *

><p><strong>Ok so I didn't quite give you many clues. But I wanted to add something extra in just before that. Just to let you know this was originally two chapters, but I condensed them into one.<br>**

**I'd love to know what you think so far. Do you think this is Death following them or something else?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for the feedback, again! I know the mystery guy has led to questions and this chapter WILL answer a few of the questions. It will at least tell you why the guy has been following Dean and Melinda...**

**This is a shorter chapter than normal, but a new chapter will be coming very soon.**

Chapter 7  
><span>

Loud banging at the door startled both Melinda and Dean awake. Melinda looked at the clock, surprised at the time. Who the hell was waking them up at not even 5am? Melinda quickly found some jeans and a t-shirt to pull on and went to the door, while Dean got dressed. It could be anyone, and they wanted to make sure they were ready for anything.

Melinda frowned at the white-haired man on the other side of the door.

"Can I help you?"

"Melinda Halliwell?" The man asked. As soon as Melinda confirmed that she was her, the white-haired man revealed a pistol. He took aim at Melinda and shot. Dean never had a chance to react until he heard the gun shot.

"Mel!" Dean shouted out as the white-haired man ran away. Dean looked at the direction the man had ran in, getting his number plate, but he was more interested in helping Melinda. The gun shot had been in her shoulder. The guy was obviously a shit shot. But Mel was losing a lot of blood.

By now, people were starting to pile out of their motel rooms. They'd heard the gun shot. Dean had no choice but to accept that they were going to the hospital. He really preferred to call for Wyatt or Chris and get her healed that way, but couldn't expose magic or the supernatural world.

All sorts of questions were running through his head. Who the hell was that guy? What did he want with Melinda? Why shoot her out in the open like that?

"Stay with me, Mel." Dean told his girlfriend, keeping pressure on the bullet wound. The problem was that the bullet went straight through. That was partially a good thing, Dean knew. It meant that there was no bullet rattling around, but it meant two wounds that he needed to cover.

"Dean," Melinda whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, baby," Dean shook his head, "Really not your fault. It was mine..."

"No it wasn't," Melinda warned him, gritting her teeth through the pain, "There was no...nothing...you..."

"Don't talk, Mel," Dean told her, pulling her closer to him, "Save your strength."

The sound of the ambulance could be heard close by. Dean had a feeling that people would call for an ambulance, and police would eventually show up. He looked around for anything that could get them in trouble. The only thing he spotted was a bullet on the ground. It had to have been the one that was shot at Melinda. Something about it made Dean frown.

He quickly pocketed the bullet before anyone saw him. It was something he would take a look at later.

* * *

><p>"Melinda Halliwell, 23-years-old, gunshot to the right shoulder. Through and through." The paramedic said, wheeling Melinda through the ER. The trauma surgeons had joined the paramedics to find out the issue. Dean was close behind, but was pulled off to one side by one of the doctors.<p>

"Are you the husband?"

"Boyfriend." Dean corrected the doctor.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Some guy just shot her. Point blank," Dean shrugged his shoulders, "I...erm...I need to call her brothers. Is she going to be okay?"

"We'll do the best we can." The doctor said, before rushing off. Dean clenched his jaw and watched where they wheeled Melinda. The doctors' best might not be good enough. He couldn't wait around, though. He needed to call her brothers. The hospital was too crowded to get them to orb straight here. He would need to ring them on the phone.

Chris was the best person to call. San Francisco was a couple of hours behind them, and he didn't want to risk waking a sleeping baby. At least for Chris, it was just him, Leo and Dana.

It took a while for Chris to answer the phone, and he wasn't best pleased. Dean didn't even bother beating around the bush. He just told Chris that his sister needed him here. Right now.

Chris orbed into a closet, and then stepped out to find Dean.

"What the hell have you done to my sister?" Dean now regretted calling Chris. Of course, the younger of the two Halliwell brothers was going to be pissed. He never wanted Melinda to leave in the first place.

"I didn't do anything. Some dick just knocked on the motel room door and shot her," Dean sighed, rubbing his chin as he tried to work out everything that had happened. He was now running through the scenario to see what he could have done differently. How could he have changed it and saved Melinda? The more he thought about it, the more there was nothing he could have done, "He asked for her, Chris."

"He knew she was there?" when Dean nodded, Chris' frowned deepened, "Who knew you were there?"

"No-one," Dean shook his head, "We'd only pulled in yesterday morning. There was no case. We just needed a break and to sort some things out."

That left both of them uneasy. Dean never really thought about it at the motel because he was more worried about Melinda, but now he could run through it all. This guy knew exactly where and who Mel was. He had sought her out, and that was unnerving. He didn't even care about Dean, even as a witness.

"Melinda Halliwell's family?" A doctor walked up to Dean and Chris.

"Yeah, I'm Dean. Her boyfriend," Dean repeated, "This is Chris, her brother."

"Okay, well the good news is that the bullet went straight through, and there's very little damage to her shoulder. She probably won't need much rehab on it. But she did lose a lot of blood. We're going to stitch her up and give her a blood transfusion. I'd like to keep her in the hospital for now for a few observations, though."

"Will that really be necessary, doc?" Chris now asked, anxious to get his sister back home.

"She's just been shot, Mr. Halliwell," the doctor replied, "And the police will want to talk to her."

The doctor walked back to his patient, while Chris and Dean turned to each other. Dean understood that Chris would want to get his sister back home, but they needed to find out who this white-haired man was.

"I'm going to tell Wyatt," Chris finally said, "Call me when they let her out of the hospital. We'll get her home and healed up."

Chris disappeared back into the closet and orbed out. It left Dean in the hospital, hoping to God that Melinda was going to be okay. It was only then that he realized he'd forgotten about the bullet. He should have told Chris he had it. That would have to wait for now.

* * *

><p>As soon as Chris got back to the Manor, he started calling everyone. He wanted everyone over at the Manor right now. They all needed to get onto this.<p>

"Dana, wake up," Chris shook his fiancée away. She would be the first to wake because she could find out what They knew. She could also help him sort out his thoughts, "Dana, I need you right now."

Dana stirred awake with a frown, "What time is it?"

"Really early," Chris said with an apologetic tone, "It's still dark out but I need you. There's been an accident."

Dana sat up, rubbing her eyes. She wanted to find out more about this accident, but Chris started rambling about some guy after Melinda. Had Melinda been in an accident? Where was Dean? Was there a demon?

She couldn't make much sense out of Chris as he rattled everything off.

"I need you to check with the Elders."

"For what?" Dana asked, "Chris, I didn't get a word you were saying. Now start from the beginning. What was this accident?"

"Someone shot Melinda."

"What!"

* * *

><p><strong>Please please please do review. I'd love to hear what you think of this.<br>**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! Thanks for the feedback again.**

**I'm sorry for the slight delay in this chapter. I did want to post it yesterday and then had a lot of work get in the way of it. While the story is all up and ready to go, I can't do it all from my phone, which is a pain. But it's here now.**

**I'm also working on another story but this is a Dean/Castiel story. I want to get it closer to the end before I start sharing it. I've already changed a couple of things in earlier chapters now that I'm up to chapter 9 of it.**

**But for now, lets get on with this one! Here's the next chapter and it's time to find out more about the bullet and the white-haired man. Could he be a hunter or is there something else?**

Chapter 8  
><span>

"Hey," Melinda groaned as she opened her eyes. Dean was waiting for her by her bedside to wake up, "What happened?"

"You were shot, Mel," Dean replied, not let go of her hand. He couldn't let her go, "Some guy just shot you."

"But I'm okay?" Mel questioned. She remembered. The guy shot her at point blank range. She should have been dead. The bullet should have gone through her heart. Dean explained that he missed and they were just waiting for the all clear. Melinda sat up, groaning at the pain in her shoulder, but she pushed past it. She just wanted out of this hospital bed and to get back on the road with Dean.

"We can't get back on the road, Mel," Dean shook his head, "The only place you're going is home. You could have died on me, Mel."

"But I didn't die," Mel shook her head with a frown. Here he went with his overprotective nature again, "I'm alive."

"But I can't protect you," Dean replied, "Your powers couldn't protect you."

Melinda wasn't having this argument right now. She did admit that she needed to get back home so her brothers could heal her, but then she could get right back on the road. Dean wasn't budging from his stance on the whole getting on the road situation.

Dean had watched her sleep after the doctors stitched her shoulder up. He constantly blamed himself from Mel's near-death experience. He should have been quicker, or should have answered the door instead. He should have realized that someone had been tailing them. It was obvious that someone had to be able to just find her like that. This was some sort of professional job. And Dean needed to find out who it was and why. The only way he could do that was without Melinda holding him back.

"Look, let's at least get out of here. We can then get back to San Francisco and discuss things from there." Melinda offered to negotiate, but she could see that Dean wasn't budging. He just wanted to get her back to San Francisco. She watched him wipe a stray tear from his face, and that was when she realized just how scared he was of losing her. Dean Winchester did not cry. Melinda had learned that over the last three months.

Dean Winchester got scared, got angry and had fun, but he never ever cried. Melinda simply nodded her head and leaned back in the bed.

"Then go," she told him, "If you don't want me tagging along on your hunts now, you go. Leave me here and I'll call one of my brothers to..."

"What! Not a chance, Melinda," Dean frowned and shook his head at her audacity. How could she even think that he was going to leave her in here and go off on another hunt? There was a bastard to find first, but that would require the help of the Halliwells and his brother, "We're getting you to San Francisco. I'm gonna help your brothers hunt this bastard down."

"And then what? You'll leave me there?" Melinda frowned, shrugging her shoulders, "If you're gonna do that, you might as well go now."

Dean didn't want to leave her. He'd grown too close to her and was far too invested in this relationship. He kept thinking about all his options. That's all he had done for hours now.

He could stay in San Francisco with Melinda, and see how that worked out. It was good for the first three months, maybe he could stick around longer.

But that would mean he couldn't help people. Of course, he could do what Bobby and most other hunters did. Have San Francisco as his base and then go out on hunts when he needed. Sammy could even come with him if he wanted. That was certainly an option.

But did he really want to stay in one place? He was a nomad. He didn't stay in one place for a long period of time. He'd thought about it plenty of times. He pictured himself living that apple pie life time and time again, but he just couldn't do it for long. He was a hunter, through and through.

But then, if he hunted he would be alone. Sam didn't want to do it anymore. Bobby was doing it part-time, really. John was dead. He couldn't bring Melinda with him. It really was a case of he would be alone. Did he really want that now that there wasn't really anything to get revenge for? Yellow-Eyes was dead, and Sammy was safe.

"Dean?" Melinda called out his name. She'd realized that he'd zoned out, and wondered what thoughts were going through his head. He was clearly struggling with something, and she knew that her getting shot had something to do with that.

"Let's get you home for now," Dean decided to humor her for the time being. He needed to sort his own head out, "We'll get you healed and go from there. I'm finding the son of a bitch that did this to you."

And that was it. Melinda knew that there was no point pushing this conversation anymore than she had. She just nodded her head and accepted the fate that would come.

* * *

><p>It had taken Dean a few extra hours to get back to San Francisco compared to Melinda. Chris had orbed her home, but he wanted to drive. He wasn't leaving his baby across country in a random motel parking lot.<p>

By the time he got back, he'd realized that it had wasted hours of finding this guy. The white-haired description wasn't much to go on, and Dean had forgotten all about the bullet again.

He walked into the Manor to find Melinda, Wyatt, Chris, Sam, Riley and Pru sitting around the dining table. Melinda had a glass of whiskey in her hand, making Dean frown. It was barely 10am, and she was already drinking. He thought she'd stopped this. Could there have been residual pain left over despite being healed by Wyatt?

Dean shook his head and placed the bags from the trunk on the floor.

"Hey, Dean," Sam smiled to see his brother get back, "You drive through the night?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded, still keeping an eye on Melinda. She hadn't even looked at him yet. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You okay?"

"Fine." Melinda said, making Dean look around at the people at the table. Nobody seemed to know what was going on, but he could tell from the look in Wyatt's eyes that his friend didn't think everything was 'fine'.

"Any luck with anything?" Dean decided he would talk to Melinda about it later. Maybe she was still mad at him for getting Chris to orb her home instead of being in the car with him.

"You didn't give us much to go on, Dean." Pru shrugged her shoulders with a sigh.

"I've tried the bar and there's nothing there."

"They wouldn't talk to you, anyway," Melinda sneered at Riley, "They know who you really are. You're just lucky you're not dead yet."

The dark sound in Melinda's voice put Dean on alert. He'd only heard her speak like that to him when they were fighting. But this was completely unprovoked, unless he'd really missed something.

"That's enough of that, Melinda." Chris said, taking the glass of whiskey from his sister's hands. Melinda glared at her brother and took the glass from him.

"I'll decide when I've had enough." She said, before standing up and walking out of the room.

"Okay, what have I missed in the last 15 hours?"

"We don't know what's going on," Wyatt rubbed his tired eyes, "She got up this morning like this."

"She was up in the middle of the night, though," Chris explained, "I could hear her walking around the house. I don't know what she was doing."

Dean couldn't help but feel worried. The gunshot had obviously affected her psychologically as well as physically. With how Melinda had been just four months ago, he worried about her. He didn't want to see her regress to that again.

"You know, you'll never find this guy if you all stand around talking." A familiar female voice called out from behind Dean. The older Winchester sneered. He really didn't like the chick that was in the room now, but Sam had told him they could trust her. She'd helped them find out about Crowley and told them about the bones trick to save him a few months ago.

Dean turned to face Ruby, and folded his arms, "What do you want?"

"It sounds like someone's put a hit out on Melinda," Ruby rolled her blue eyes, "And she's not the only witch. You all want to watch out. I don't know who it is yet, but there's been a few witches shot. Some died. Others have..."

Ruby trailed off, and it put everyone in the room on guard.

"Others have what, Ruby?" Sam now asked the question that everyone had in mind.

"Turned evil," Ruby looked at Sam with a genuine worried look in her eyes, "I'd like to know why, but I've not got much to go on." Ruby looked at Dean as if it was his fault.

"There's not much more that I can tell you," Dean defended himself and then thought again about the bullet. He pulled it out of his pocket and put it on the table, "Except this. I picked it up at the motel before the ambulance got there. It looks like it has markings on it..."

Just as Chris was about to pick the bullet up, Ruby smacked his hands away, "Don't touch that!"

Everyone watched Ruby in shock. She had a look of fear in her brown eyes, before picking the bullet up with the tips of her fingers. It was as if the bullet was poison or something. Dean's eyes widened, along with Sam's. They two had instantly realized what was going on. The bullet was poison!

"It's poisonous to witches," Ruby explained, "You'll be fine, Dean."

"What about Mel?" Wyatt asked.

"What do you mean poisonous?" Chris now asked.

"Is it going to kill her?" Dean wanted to know.

Ruby was taking in all the questions, but she didn't have all the answers. She placed the bullet back on the table and looked between each of them, explaining as much as she could.

"Demons created this poison. It was to turn witches, not kill them."

"Turn them?" Pru asked with a frown, "As in turn them evil?"

Ruby nodded her head and looked directly at Dean, "As long as she hasn't killed yet, you can still save her. I can get the antedote, but you need to keep her from killing any human. Demons are fine, but not humans-that includes witches."

Nobody had noticed that Melinda had walked into the dining room. She'd tipped her head to one side with an evil grin.

"That's good to know." She alerted everyone to her presence, but it wasn't in enough time. She pushed Dean up against the wall and grabbed the Colt from his jacket pocket. She then aimed the Colt at Ruby, firing off a bullet. The bullet hit Ruby right in the chest, making Sam scream out and rush to catch the demon's falling body.

Wyatt, Chris, Pru and Riley jumped up from the dining table, as Dean tackled his girlfriend to the floor. He pinned her down, kicking the Colt out of her reach.

"I don't want to hurt you, Melinda." Dean warned her.

"That's too bad," Melinda smirked, "Because I really want to hurt you."

Melinda's hand sparked a little. It was enough to send Dean flying backwards from the shock.

"Dean!"

"Mel!"

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><p><strong>Uh oh! Things don't look great for these two, do they? What do you think about that little twist? Please do leave feedback and I'll get the next chapter up soon, I promise.<br>**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for the feedback again. Everything about Ruby will be answered in this chapter. Would her death mean Mel turns? Well, remember Ruby made a point to say that killing a demon would be fine-it wouldn't turn Mel.**

**Here comes the next chapter. There are just five chapters left after this one. It's a shorter story than the last, but if you're interested, I do have a third story ready to go and I'm working on the fourth :) I really love writing this universe and I'll post the stories for anyone who wants to read.**

Chapter 9

Dean groaned as he opened his eyes. Everything hurt.

Rolling onto his back, he looked around at the commotion that was going on. Wyatt had tackled Melinda to the ground, and was desperately trying to stay out of the way of the electricity that she was firing off. Sam was with Ruby, who's eyes were wide open. Pru, Riley and Chris were running around doing...well, he wasn't quite sure.

"What the..." Dean groaned as he tried to sit up. Pru quickly ran over to him to help him.

"Hey! You're okay!" Pru smiled, but Dean didn't feel okay. He felt like he'd just been electrocuted. He remembered the feeling from a couple of years ago.

Suddenly Wyatt flew backwards through the air, hitting the wall next to Dean. He slipped down the wall, his shoulders and head slumped.

"Wyatt?"

"Melinda!" Chris now attacked his sister. But he didn't use physical force. His was magical. Chris waved his arm and Melinda was sent flying backwards towards the front door. She hit the ground hard and then rolled for a few minutes. Melinda then pulled herself to her feet and just laughed at Chris before blowing him a kiss.

"Catch me if you can, Chris." She said before running out of the front door. Dean tried to get up to follow his girlfriend, but he had to stop. Putting his hand over his heart, he groaned.

"Damn it!"

"She caught you with her powers," Pru told Dean just as white and blue lights filled the air. Someone had called for help, "You'll be okay."

"What happened?" Dana's voice called out as she looked at the after effects of the commotion.

"Heal Wyatt and Dean." Chris simply said before running out of the front door. By the time he got there, Dean guessed that Melinda had disappeared.

"Damn it!" Chris shouted and slammed the front door, "She's taken the Mustang." He informed everyone before closing his eyes to sense for his sister.

"Heal Wyatt first," Dean told Dana before she held her hands over him, "He needs it most by the looks of things."

Dana nodded her head and placed her hands over Wyatt. The eldest Halliwell snapped his eyes open and looked around the room.

"Where is she?" Wyatt instantly asked, remembering everything that had happened. Dana moved onto Dean to heal the after effects of Melinda's powers. He was grateful when he felt the damage disappear. If only he knew Dana a couple of years ago when he had that near-death experience. He hated those days of feeling like he was old and worthless. It would have stopped him feeling guilty that someone had to die for him to get a renewed life.

Dean now got off the floor with Pru's help as Dana rushed to Sam, who was still holding Ruby.

"There's nothing you can do for her." Sam shook his head, pushed Ruby's eyes closed. Dean now remembered. Melinda had grabbed the Colt from his jacket pocket and used a bullet to kill the demon. Did that mean that Melinda was evil?

No, he remembered Ruby saying that Melinda had to kill a human before she crossed the line.

"What has happened?" Dana asked again, looking around at everyone. But all eyes were on Chris as he cursed again.

"I can't sense her," Chris shook his head and looked at Wyatt with worried eyes, "We're losing her. What if she kills..."

"She won't kill anyone, Chris," Wyatt shook his head, "We'll save her. I swear we'll save her. You guys brought me back from the brink."

"But that was different," Riley pointed out and Dean wondered when Wyatt had needed saving from evil, "You didn't turn because of some poison running through your veins."

"I killed an innocent, though," Wyatt pointed out, "There should have been no turning back from that. If it wasn't for...How did Hen get into my head to put the good thoughts in there?"

Wyatt rushed up towards the attic, closely followed by Chris and Riley. It left Dana turning to Pru, Dean and Sam for answers.

"What the hell happened, and why is there a dead demon on the floor?" Dana asked them. Dean frowned and looked down at the dining table. Dana followed his vision and saw the bullet that he'd brought back from the motel room when Melinda was shot.

"Oh no!" Dana shook her head, picking up the bullet, "No, no, no!"

"You know what that is then?" Pru asked solemnly. It should have been good news but Dana had tears in her eyes, as she covered her hand over her mouth.

"You need to find Melinda now," Dana looked directly at Dean, believing that he could do it, "If she kills one person we've lost her forever. There is no coming back from this. The antidote won't work once she kills."

"Where will she have gone?" Sam now asked, looking towards Dean and Pru; the two people who knew her the best.

"She'll feel the urge to kill," Dana explained, "This poison, it screws with the head. It makes a witch need to kill. Demon, witch, innocent...it doesn't matter."

"Where's the Colt?" Dean now asked. He remembered getting it out of Melinda's grasp when he tackled her to the ground but that was it.

"I think she grabbed it on the way out." Pru admitted.

"That Colt will kill anything and everything, Pru," Sam now looked at the brown-haired witch and then turned back to Dean, "Where will she go?"

"She'll want to make this first kill count," Dean swallowed hard, and looked at Dana, "Anyone around here that will really get to the family?"

"Xandra," Dana's eyes suddenly went wide, "Little Bit!"

"She'll kill Wyatt doing that." Pru's eyes went wide at the sudden thought of it. Dean didn't stick around any longer. He rushed out of the house and went straight to his Impala. As he started the engine, someone jumped into the passenger seat. He glanced to see Sam sitting there. Pru was jumping into the back.

"We're coming with you." Sam answered him, and Dean wasn't about to argue. He needed all the help he could get.

* * *

><p>Nobody had thought of calling Bianca to let her know the situation. Dean was too busy frantically driving to her, while Wyatt and Chris focused on getting inside Melinda's head to stop her from doing something she would regret.<p>

When Melinda turned up at the house, Bianca thought nothing of it. Melinda had simply used the excuse of wanting to see her niece and getting away from her overprotective big brothers and boyfriend. Bianca could understand that. She'd seen how Wyatt and Chris could be around her, especially after the rocky year that Melinda had had. But Bianca knew that the two Halliwell brothers did it from a place of love, and that was the same with Dean.

Bianca placed her daughter in her crib before walking towards the kitchen.

"Do you want a drink?"

"Do you have any beer?" Melinda asked, tilting her head to one side. Bianca rolled her hazel eyes with a shake of her head. She should have guessed.

"You can have a soda." Bianca said, before disappearing into the kitchen. It left Melinda alone with Xandra in the bassinet. The three-month-old was defenseless right now. Melinda could kill the baby and she would be evil forever. She felt the urge. That need to kill people. It was screaming at her, but she wanted this kill to mean something. She knew that with this one kill she would be evil forever, and she liked the idea of that feeling.

The kill had to hurt, though. And what better way than killing Wyatt's daughter? She'd considered Emily and Sarah, Hen's two children, but her niece made a better choice. This baby hadn't really shown any powers yet. It would be easier and cut deep.

Melinda picked up the sleeping baby, cuddling her to her chest. Xandra started to stir awake, but Melinda shushed her, putting her hands over the back of the baby's neck. One jolt and this little thing would be no more. There would be no saving the baby or Melinda.

* * *

><p><strong>It's getting to a dangerous point...will Mel make the kill or can Dean get to her in time to stop her? Please do leave some feedback to let me know what you think. I thrive off feedback :)<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you again for the feedback about the story. I know I left it with a really mean cliffhanger, but I'm here to share the next chapter. There's just four chapter left! Eek!**

**Well, here goes...**

Chapter 10

Dean raced through the streets of San Francisco, not even caring about the red lights or stop signs that he was running through. He needed to save Melinda, and he needed to save Wyatt's daughter. With one kill, Melinda would be lost forever. She would become the thing that Dean hunted, and he wasn't certain that he would ever be able to kill her.

He'd rather die than have to kill his girlfriend; the woman he loved with all his heart. He didn't even stop to think about what that meant right now.

Reaching Wyatt's house, Dean slammed the car to a stop.

"There's the Mustang," Sam pointed out, "You were right."

"Of course I was," Dean nodded, "It's what I'd do if you had a kid." He and Melinda were two of the same person. They thought alike, and Dean could imagine his own actions if he felt the need to kill. He'd want to make his brother suffer, and what better way than by killing a kid.

Sam raised his eyebrows at his brother's words, but didn't question anything. Deep down he knew that Dean meant if he was the one with poison cursing through his veins telling him to kill.

"She's in there." Pru pointed towards the window to the front room, where Melinda was walking rocking the baby in her arms. Fear went through Dean as he wondered whether it was too late after all.

He flung the Impala's door open and rushed straight up the steps to the house. He didn't even knock or ring the doorbell; just instantly tried to open the door. But it was locked. Melinda had locked herself in the house, so she couldn't be stopped.

"No, Melinda!" Dean bashed on the door.

Bianca frowned from the kitchen. She could hear someone bashing on the front door, and it sounded like Dean. Had they had an argument? Was that why Melinda came over?

Bianca made her way out of the kitchen and towards the door. A sight from the living room stopped her, though. Melinda was standing in the middle of the living room, holding Xandra. There was a glint in her eyes that made Bianca feel uneasy.

"Melinda, what are you doing with Little Bit?" Bianca asked, making her way towards Melinda. The banging on the door was more intense, but Bianca wanted to get her daughter back, "She was sleeping."

"She woke," Melinda said in a sickly sweet voice. Melinda's green eyes had a look that told Bianca nobody was safe right now, "So I picked her up. I was going to kill her, but then I thought...what would hurt Wyatt more?"

Melinda held out her arm, just as the front door was smashed open. Dean ran in just in time to see Melinda shoot off electricity at Bianca. Dean couldn't let someone die, and tackled Bianca to the ground. The electricity hit the hallway wall as Sam and Pru ran into the room.

"Melinda, don't do this!" Sam held his hands up, as a way to show that he had no weapons, "Don't kill anyone."

"Why not?" Melinda asked with a tilt of her head. Dean was helping Bianca up from the floor.

"Please, give me Xandra back, Mel," Bianca feared for her daughter's life. Tears were running down her cheeks. Dean pushed Bianca behind him, and now the Winchesters were in front of the two women in the room, facing Melinda. Could they kill her if they needed to, though? "Don't hurt my daughter, Melinda."

"I'm not going to hurt her," Melinda laughed, "I thought about it. I was going to do it, but I figured that wouldn't be as bad for Wyatt. After all, we've all been through death."

"Not the death of a child, Mel," Pru frowned and shook her head, "He wouldn't get over that."

"No, but there's something else that he wouldn't get over," Melinda smirked, "What if I raised her to be evil?"

Dean's jaw clenched as he feared that he was too late to save Melinda after all. Had she killed someone on the way over here? He put his hand behind him, feeling the handle of the knife. He didn't have the Colt anymore, but he did have Ruby's knife. He pulled out the knife and glared at Melinda. She just looked into his green eyes and laughed.

"Could you really do it?" Melinda then asked, "Could you really kill me? I don't think you could, Dean."

"Why don't you test me?" Dean asked, but he wasn't certain that he could do it. He just needed to put on the face and make it seem like he could do it if he needed. It seemed to have Melinda wondering. She walked to the bassinet and put the baby back down in it. There was a visible sigh from Bianca, as she tried to run towards the bassinet.

"No you don't." Melinda said, waving her arm. A small electricity bolt hit Bianca, causing her to fly backwards towards the stairs.

"NO!" Pru called out, running straight to Bianca to see if she could do anything to help.

"Don't worry, she's not dead," Melinda looked directly at Dean. It was like there was nobody else in the room, "Not yet. I've not had my first kill yet. That's going to be you, Winchester."

Dean had to admit he felt honored. She had moved on from hurting Wyatt to deciding to kill him. This was just three months after saving his life and soul. He was thinking about that too much and missed the movement in the corner of his eye. Sam had pulled out a gun and was about to shoot Melinda. She held out her hand at him and fired off more electricity. It made Sam drop the gun and he stumbled back.

"This is between me and your brother, Sammy-boy," Melinda told him, "You don't want to get in the way of this."

"Don't do this, Melinda," Dean warned his girlfriend, gripping the knife hard with his right hand, "I'll kill you if I have to."

"You see, I don't think you will." Melinda shook her head, and held her hands out to her side. Dean could see flicks of electricity between her fingers. It was like she was warming up for some prized fight. He was going to keep to keep himself on the ball if he wanted stay alive and take Melinda down. He was going to knock her out to get her back to the Manor. They could figure out how to help her from there.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Dean asked her, "Attack me already."

And Melinda did. She ran towards Dean, kicking and hitting at him. He'd forgotten that she said she'd trained in martial arts, and damn it she was good. He was barely blocking her hits, trying to stay away from her electricity-charged hands. One jolt and he knew she'd kill him. He'd seen her do it to a demon, and had seen her restart a heart. She had the power in her.

Sam tried to help, but Melinda was quick. She kicked Sam back, forcing him to stumble towards Bianca and Pru. Pru was still helping Bianca, who was struggling after the jolt of electricity she felt.

Something seemed to make Melinda stop fighting. She had a look of pain and confusion on her face. Was this part of the poison? Dean didn't really care right now, he was taking advantage of her momentary lack of concentration. He kicked her backwards, making her stumble and fall over the couch. Dean rushed to Melinda, and grabbed her by the wrists, pinning them above her head on the floor. He then held the knife up high. Could he do it? He thought he might have to.

"Dean?" Melinda suddenly called out, confusion in her green eyes. Was this a trick? Dean kept his poker face, but looked into her eyes, "Dean, help me! Please, just do it."

She was pleading for death? Dean lowered the knife. He wasn't going to be able to kill her, especially now that she seemed to be coming back to her normal self. While he hesitated, Melinda's eyes turned back to the evil glint that she had and she laughed.

"You should have done it when you had the chance." Melinda said, and then raised a leg to knee Dean in the balls. Pain shot through his whole body, and he couldn't breathe. All he could do was let Melinda kick him off her and then roll them over so she was on top. She pulled the Colt out of the back of her jeans, and held it at Dean's head.

"Goodbye, Dean!"

Dean clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, getting ready for death. But before Mel pulled the trigger, she screamed. It was a high-pitched scream that made Dean fling his eyes open. There were only a handful of times he'd heard that scream. It meant she was in pain.

Melinda fell to the ground beside Dean. It gave him a chance to sit up and grab Melinda.

"Hey, Mel..." What was happening to her? Was this poison killing her because she hadn't killed yet? Dean could just hold her up, as she grabbed her head on either side. She continued to scream, but was shouting at someone to get out.

"Get out! Get out!" Melinda screamed at the top of her lungs, and before anyone could do anything, she just passed out.

Dean cradled Melinda and looked towards Sam and Pru, who were helping Bianca stand. Bianca had her hand on her chest, rubbing it as if her heart hurt.

"What just happened?"

"That was the spell Wyatt was looking for. But it's not meant to do that." Pru simply said.

* * *

><p>Wyatt had found the spell and managed to get inside his sister's head. But he couldn't stay there. It was a maze of evil thoughts and voices. How could Melinda stand being inside her own head? No wonder she wanted to kill someone.<p>

He couldn't quite tell where she was, but he could hear her screaming. She knew that he was inside her head. He thought back to when Hen was inside his head, when he was evil. He didn't have a clue that Hen was there. Why was this reacting differently?

Suddenly, Wyatt felt himself pulled out of Melinda's head and his eyes snapped open. He looked at Chris, Riley and Dana. They were all in the attic watching him intently.

"I don't know what happened?" Wyatt answered them honestly, "I got there but...I don't know what happened to her."

All sorts of questions ran through Wyatt's head. What had just happened to his sister? Had he killed her by going into her head? Was the poison doing something dangerous to his baby sister?

* * *

><p><strong>I was so close...so close to killing Dean...<br>**

**What did you think of the chapter? I'd love to hear from my loyal readers. I really do appreciate the feedback.**


	11. Chapter 11

**OK, I was meant to post this a couple of days ago and kinda forgot. I'm not sure how I forgot after I edited it in here, but, well, I have been super busy lately. I have two jobs, a toddler and a husband who acts like a big toddler at times, so do get my hands full sometimes. But I'll try not to leave updates too long from now on.  
><strong>

Chapter 11

Melinda rolled her neck with a groan. Her head still hurt. In fact it was pounding. She couldn't believe her brother had jumped into her head. Couldn't believe that he'd tried to save her the way their cousin Hen had saved him during his evil stint. Did he really think that there was a way to save her from this?

Did he even think she wanted to be saved?

Melinda finally opened her eyes and tried to move her arms. That was when she realized that she was tied down to a chair she was sitting in. Rope wrapped around her arms, wrists and even hands. They were keeping her from using her powers for now. Her legs were tied to the legs of the chair, and she could feel rope around her chest. They were really taking precautions now.

"You're not getting out, Melinda," a male voice called out to her from the shadows. She smirked when she recognized the voice, "I'm not letting you turn forever. I'll save you even if it kills me."

"Dean, Dean, Dean..." Melinda laughed, moving her eyes to see if she could spot him, "There is nothing you can do now."

"Yes, there is," Dean said, stepping out of the shadows, looking deep into Melinda's green eyes, "You haven't killed an innocent yet. We can get the antidote."

"I'll get out of these before you can," Melinda sneered at Dean, "And then I'll kill you, Wyatt and everyone else gets in my way."

Dean just shook his head. He wasn't going to let Melinda turn evil. He couldn't let that happen. She was good, and she protected innocents. If she turned, it would make her the monster that he hunted. It would mean he'd have to do the one thing that he knew deep down he couldn't. And he was sure her family couldn't do it either.

"Maybe I'll leave you for last, actually," Melinda broke the silence, "Or at least second. As poetic as it would be killing you first—after all, I did recently save your ass from the burning fires of Hell—I think I want to see you beg for death. That would happen once I kill Sammy and maybe Bobby...what about Ellen and Jo?"

Dean clenched his jaw, staring at Melinda. She wouldn't see that she was starting to get to him. Nobody threatened his family and friends.

"I'll kill everyone you care about in life," Melinda smirks, "And then I'll make it slow so you're begging for it. You'll wish that you were my first kill."

"We'll save you before it comes to that."

"No you won't," Melinda shook her head, "And deep down you know it. You're wondering whether you could actually kill me. Can you picture putting that knife through my heart? Maybe the Colt would be easier. You won't have to look into my eyes as you do it then.

"You know your problem has always been that you're weak. You pretend to act like the tough guy, but you're weak. You couldn't kill Sam when you knew you might have to, and you blamed yourself for his death. You'd rather go to Hell than see your precious Sammy rotting in the ground. You're weak because you fear the loneliness, Dean. You've feared the loneliness for as long as you can remember."

"You don't know me," Dean shook his head, but he knew deep down that she was right. He did fear the loneliness. It was part of the reason he had let Melinda remain hunting with him for as long as he did. He'd thought about bringing her home weeks ago, "You know nothing, Melinda."

"I know plenty," Melinda smirked, "I know secrets you've buried deep inside of you. You've tried to hide them for so long, Dean, but you can't. You never will be able to. You and me? We're the same, and you know it.

"What about joining me, Dean? I can turn you evil. You won't have to hold onto your guilt and your fears anymore. Imagine never feeling sorry for yourself anymore."

"I'd never turn evil, Melinda," Dean shook his head, knowing that this wasn't really her. But it sure looked and sounded like her. He had to remember the poison running through her veins right now. Evil wanted this to happen, "But I'm going to save you."

With that Dean turned to walk up the stairs from the basement. They'd tied Melinda up down there to keep her from harming anyone at all. The last thing they needed was for her to finally get her human kill that she needed.

"Are you running away now? I haven't even gotten started with you, Winchester."

"I'm going to save you, Melinda," Dean replied, "Once you're you again, then you can tell me whatever you want."

Dean stepped into the kitchen and shut the door to the basement behind him. He only realized now that his body was shaking. Anger, fear, every single emotion he could think of was running through him. Could they save Melinda? How could she say some of the things she did? How did she even know some of that crap?

They were one and the same. He knew that was true deep down. They were so similar it was scary at times, but they worked because of it. And he loved her because of her personality. She felt guilt that she shouldn't, and she wanted to save people; especially now that she wasn't on her destructive path. Give her an innocent and a demon to fight, she'd get to work. That was just what he did.

"Is she awake yet?" Sam looked up from the kitchen table. It was only then that Dean realized there were others in the room. Sam and Pru had helped him get Melinda back to the Manor. They'd tied her up and took her back in the Impala, just in case she woke up on the way home. Luckily for them, she was out cold so they could tie her up in the basement. Wyatt had orbed home as soon as he found out what had happened, so he could heal Bianca and make sure she and Xandra were home. Dean would hate to be on the receiving end of Wyatt's anger. He wondered whether Wyatt would be able to kill his sister if it became a necessity.

"Yeah," Dean said, "And she's not happy."

Dean pulled his flask from his jacket pocket and took a long swig of it. The burning sensation of the alcohol helped to steady his nerves. He couldn't have stayed down there with her any longer. As much as he wanted to make sure she was okay, she was going to get inside his head. She was going to say things that would mean Dean could never forgive her. Even though he knew she was being poisoned right now, he'd hold grudges against her and was unwilling to let it get that far. He loved her!

"Well, Dana is searching for the antidote," Pru sighed, "She isn't as knowledgeable as Ruby was."

"I'm sorry about her, Sam," Dean looked at his brother with sympathy, "I didn't like the bitch, but she helped us."

"She helped you, Dean," Sam replied, "There are good demons out there."

"Speaking of good demons," Pru moved the subject on before they could think anymore about the dead demon that Sam and Dean were going to burn later. Ruby was currently in the sunroom, covered with a sheet, "Riley is at the demon bar. He's going to find out who ordered the hit on Melinda."

"Good," Dean nodded, "I'm gonna kill the son of a bitch who did it."

"Where is she?" Wyatt slammed the kitchen door open and walked straight through. He headed directly for Dean as the kitchen door swung back, hitting Chris.

"Wyatt!" Chris called out.

Dean grabbed Wyatt's arms and stopped him from going past him.

"Where the hell is she, Dean?" Wyatt asked, anger in his brown eyes. In fact, this was more than anger. He looked like he was ready to kill.

"Wyatt, calm down!" Chris called out, now in the kitchen. The kitchen door was still swinging.

"Calm down?" Wyatt shouted at Chris, "She tried to kill my wife and daughter. I'm gonna..."

"Kill her?" Dean frowned, making his friend turn his attention to him, "You really wanna kill your sister?"

"You have no idea how it feels," Wyatt's nostrils flared, making it clear that he was out for blood, "She almost killed them. Bianca said she was gonna raise Xandra to be evil."

"But we stopped it in time," Sam was now standing and walking around the kitchen table. Pru had rushed out of the room, while the three men tried to calm Wyatt and prevent him from doing something he would later regret, "They're safe and we're finding a way to save Melinda now."

"What if she can't be saved?" Wyatt asked, "She took it too far today."

"You can't kill her, Wyatt," Chris argued, "She's our sister."

"Let's get the fucker who did this to her, instead," Dean suggested, "You and me. We go after him and kill him ourselves."

Wyatt frowned and looked into Dean's green eyes. The eldest Halliwell slowly nodded his head, accepting that idea.

"Is Melinda okay?" He now asked. He seemed calmer, so Dean let go of Wyatt's arms.

"She's not gonna hurt anyone right now," Dean shrugged his shoulders, "She's out to hurt someone though."

"She's not herself right now," Chris now stood next to Dean, looking directly at Wyatt, "She'll have all sorts of thoughts running through her head. The poison is making her kill and do everything she did."

"Do we know who the son of a bitch is?" Wyatt kept his eyes on Dean.

"Not yet," Dean shook his head, "But Riley is trying to find out."

Just then, Riley shimmered into the kitchen with a big grin.

"Riley has just found out," Riley said with a grin, "You'll wanna grab your shit. The guy is after another witch as we speak."

Riley was right. The white-haired man was after another witch as they spoke. And Riley knew who it was.

The white-haired man walked up the stairs to the large, five-bedroom house. He knocked on the door and patiently waited. When a 16-year-old girl answered the door, he tilted his head with a smile.

"Poppy Halliwell?"

"Yes?" The girl answered. Before she knew what had hit her, the man raised the gun and fired at Poppy.

* * *

><p><strong>Dum dum dum...I know, poor Poppy! Will Dean manage to save her and Mel in time?<br>**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm not sure if anyone is reading this anymore, but I'm updating it anyway. I really hate leaving stories unfinished. I do have a couple of more Dean/Melinda stories after this one, but I'll only post them if people really want to read them. If you do, please do let me know. And I'd love to hear what you think about this story so far.**

**It picks up just where the last chapter left off...**

Chapter 12

Wyatt had orbed in with Dean just as he heard the gunshot. He looked over to the door of his aunt's home to see Poppy fall to the ground. He was too late to save her.

Dean glanced at the door, past the falling body. The white-haired man was there. Dean wasn't going to let him escape this time. He ran past Poppy and towards the man. The white-haired man saw Dean and just laughed, before running down the steps to his own car. Dean wasn't about to let the guy go though.

Luckily, Dean had backup. Riley shimmered in between the man and the car. The white-haired man wasn't expecting it and ran straight into Riley. The shock on his face was a picture for Riley, who just grabbed the man and turned him around to face Dean.

Dean stepped down the steps and walked over to the white-haired man with a smug grin.

"You're gonna wish you never touched this family."

With that, Dean punched the white-haired man with all that he hand, knocking him out instantly.

* * *

><p>"Don't touch the bullet, Wyatt!" Dana slapped her future-brother-in-law's hands away from the bullet that Dean had placed on the dining table. It was the one they'd picked up from Phoebe's house, and was now next to the one that he'd gotten from the motel room, "If you touch it, the poison will seep through you, too. Do you really want to turn evil?"<p>

"How is she?" Pru asked, tears running down her face. Riley was holding her tight. Dean glanced over at Pru, his heart breaking. He knew exactly how she felt. He'd been in the position of something happening to his little brother when he couldn't do anything. There was the helplessness and the fear that everything was going to go south.

Dana looked up from where she sat, healing Poppy of her wounds, "I can heal her wounds, but I can't stop the poison. She'll be like Melinda."

"Great!" Pru wiped her eyes, "And Poppy can astral project."

Everyone looked at her, fear in all their eyes. They needed to figure out a way of stopping Poppy from astral projection, but all Wyatt could think of was binding her powers temporarily. That wasn't going to work.

"What about Bobby?" Sam raised the point, "Doesn't he have that panic room? It blocks magic, doesn't it?"

"Not quite, but Poppy wouldn't be able to astral project out, I don't think," Dean nodded his head and looked at Wyatt, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind looking after her while we sorted this out."

Wyatt nodded his head and looked at Dana. She agreed to taking Poppy to Bobby and locking her up for the time being. Meanwhile, they needed to get answers. They needed to know what this white-haired man was up to.

Dean and Wyatt walked into the sunroom. Chris had the white-haired man tied up and sat in a devil's trap. Dean folded his arms, looking into the eyes of the man who shot his girlfriend. He wanted to rip him limb from limb. He wanted to kill him slowly and painfully. He would do that, but right now he needed answers.

They all needed to know who was pulling the strings. It was a little too convenient that Melinda and Poppy were targets one after the other. Why those two? The demons would have found it much better for themselves to turn a more powerful witch like Wyatt.

"He's not talking." Chris sighed, but Dean wasn't accepting that. He walked over to the white-haired man and stared right at him.

"You're going to talk. You got it?" Dean said. The white-haired man just laughed, so Dean pulled Ruby's knife out of his jacket pocket. Soon the white-haired man stopped laughing and stared at the knife.

"I'd heard Ruby was fucking the Winchesters," he said to Dean, "Didn't want to believe it myself."

"Yeah, well she's dead," Dean sneered, "And now I've got all the control."

Dean slashed at the white-haired man's arm. He growled in pain as the red and orange flashes appeared, indicating that it was doing damage.

"I suggest you two get out of here if you don't want to see this." Dean told the Halliwell brothers. He was about to take extreme measures to get answers.

Wyatt and Chris took Dean's advice and walked out of the room. Well, more like Chris pulled Wyatt out of the room. Wyatt was on a bit of a destructive path right now. Their sister had almost killed his wife and was going to kidnap his daughter to raise her evil. While Wyatt knew that it was all because of a demonic poison, he wasn't ready to let Melinda get away with her actions. Nor was he going to let a demon get away with doing this.

But they did need answers. And Chris saw the glint in Dean's eyes that told him he would find out the truth. He definitely didn't want to watch the older Winchester's actions.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, looking up from the books at the dining table. Suddenly, the sound of the white-haired man screaming could be heard throughout the house. Sam clenched his jaw and didn't bother asking any more questions. He nodded his head and went back to the books. He and Dean had resorted to questionable tactics in the past. Was it really a good idea to let the Halliwells know that this was what they did to get answers?

Sam could already tell that Wyatt wasn't handling this very well. He was angry, and certainly had every right to be. Sam didn't know how he'd have handled it if tables were turned. Demonic poison or not, Sam would have beat the crap out of Dean for his thought process.

Another scream could be heard, and it seemed that Wyatt had had enough. He stormed through into the kitchen, mentioning something about getting answers of his own.

It took the others too long to realize what he really meant. By the time Chris, Sam and Riley ran into the kitchen, Wyatt had already locked himself in the basement. He was going to get answers from Melinda.

Wyatt walked down the stairs, and came face to face with his now-partially evil sister. She was just watching him with a smile.

"Hey big brother," she said with a taunt in her voice, "How's the family?"

"Fine. No thanks to you," Wyatt glared at her and then leaned forward to rest his hands on her arms. He looked directly into her eyes, "Why them?"

"Why not?" Melinda shrugged her shoulders.

Wyatt and Melinda just glared into each other's eyes. Wyatt's were full of anger, but Melinda just had a smirk that reached her green eyes. She was enjoying this. She enjoyed seeing the anger in his eyes, to see the hurt and the pain. Finally she explained herself.

"You don't remember your stint of being evil, do you?" She asked, tilting her head to one side. Wyatt's anger disappeared momentarily as he thought back to the time that he was evil. It felt like an eternity ago, but it was actually about six or seven years. He'd met a girl, who turned out to be pure evil. She'd gotten into his head and convinced him to kill his high school ex-girlfriend. That was his turning point, but there were snippets of his time being evil that he refused to think about; he didn't want to remember all the terrible things he did.

"You almost killed me, Wyatt," Melinda informed him, "With your bare hands. I have to make you suffer for that."

Wyatt stepped away from Melinda, realizing that she was telling the truth. He remembered. It was one of the memories he was suppressing. He'd tried apologizing afterwards, but Melinda didn't really want to hear it. Their relationship had been damaged a lot after that, but he thought they were getting past it. It turned out that she held a grudge well.

"I said I was sorry for that, Melinda," Wyatt shook his head, "But you really thought that killing my wife and child was going to make you happier?"

"Your daughter will be better raised with evil," Melinda shook her head, "Bianca on the other hand...well, no-one wants a damaged Phoenix. Except maybe you."

Screams from the sunroom could be heard in the attic. Melinda looked upwards, "Got a visitor?"

"Dean and Riley caught the guy who did this to you," Wyatt answered her, "Dean's getting answers now."

"He treads that fine line between good and evil well," Melinda smirked, "He'd have made a great demon. Maybe there's still a chance for him."

"You don't mean that," Wyatt shook his head, watching his sister carefully, "You saved him from Hell."

"And I'm paying for that, right now," Melinda replied, "Poppy will be too. Where is she anyway? Did you get to her in time?"

Wyatt closed his eyes as he thought about Poppy getting shot. Melinda laughed at him as she realized that he was too late.

"So, where are you stashing her? Somewhere she can't astral project? She'll find a way out. Our littlest cousin is the best for figuring things like that out."

"Why you and Poppy? Do you know? Do you know who did all this?"

The look in Melinda's eyes told Wyatt that she knew everything. Then in a flash he suddenly saw her rushing towards him. How did he not realize that her ropes had been untied?

_Melinda laughed as Dean left her in the attic. She'd gotten to him, and he had no choice but to leave. It was just too easy playing with a broken soul._

_The problem was that his knots were good. She was going to struggle to get out of these._

"_Well, well, well, aren't you in a predicament?" A voice called out from behind her. Melinda signed and rolled her green eyes._

"_Crowley." She simply said, and watched out of the corner of her eye as Crowley stepped around so she could see him. He crouched down in front of her—not that he had much height on her while she sat—and placed his hands on the ropes._

"_I think you need out of these," he said with a smirk, "You do need to kill, after all. Don't you, Princess? Not quite fully evil yet, are you?"_

_Melinda glared at him, with a bored look in her eyes. What was he waiting for? Of course, he needed to tell her his plan. They should have known that the King of the Crossroads would be involved in all this. He did say that he wanted a Winchester or Halliwell in Hell with him. It would make him the King of Hell. So, this was his way of doing it._

_While he told her the full plan and what she was to do next, he untied her ropes. She didn't have to wait too long for Wyatt to join her in the basement._

Melinda punched Wyatt hard, but he was bigger and stronger than her. He kicked her off him, forcing her to stumble back. Now he could stand up, and get ready for the fight.

* * *

><p>Chris and Riley tried to get through the door to the basement. Sam was torn. He could hear Dean taking all his anger out on the demon in the sunroom, but he always wanted to save Wyatt from doing something stupid.<p>

Suddenly, all the lights went out and they heard an evil laugh come from a female in the basement.

"Wyatt!" Chris shouted before standing back and kicking the door. It wasn't budging.

"What the hell is going on?" Dean asked, storming into the kitchen. When he saw everyone crowded around the door to the basement, he groaned, "Who's in there?"

"Wyatt." Sam answered with a worried look in his big brown eyes. Dean shook his head and quickly ran out to the garage. He needed some of the arsenal in his trunk. When he returned, he through a shotgun to Sammy and took his own, aiming it towards the basement door.

"Stand back!" Dean shouted, giving Chris and Riley fair warning. They quickly jumped back so he could fire the lock off the door. With one quick kick, the door burst open and they could clearly hear the fight that was going on downstairs.

"You can't shoot her, Dean." Riley warned his friend, stopping Dean from walking into the basement.

"It's rock salt." Dean pushed past, racing down the stairs to break up the fight. He wasn't expecting to see Melinda out of the ropes and fighting Wyatt. They matched each other move for move. Neither were able to get the upper hand for a long period of time. But they were also moving too fast. He couldn't get a shot off to stop Melinda from attacking.

Blue and white lights brightened up the room, forming into Dana. She had a syringe in her hand. It had to be the antidote. The only problem was she couldn't get to Melinda to inject her.

Chris came running in behind Dean and waved his hand. Melinda flew backwards through the air. Wyatt stopped fighting, and looked at his sister out of breath.

"Go!" Chris told his girlfriend, realizing what she needed to do.

Melinda looked like she was knocked out cold. Dana made her way over to her future-sister-in-law cautiously, with the syringe held up high. She just needed to get this dose into Melinda's system. Just as she got close, she knelt down. Suddenly, Melinda's eyes snapped open and she grabbed Dana's arm. The last thing Dana felt was something grip the muscles in her arm, as if they were in a vice. She lost control of everything as electricity surged through her body. Then it all went black.

* * *

><p><strong>Uh oh...it's all building to the final moment. I'd love to hear what you think? Will Melinda really turn evil?<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

No! No, no, no! He wasn't going to lose her, and definitely not to evil. But Dean had seen it. Melinda had gotten the kill that she needed. She'd just killed Dana.

Chris pushed past Dean and ran to Dana's side. At the same time, Melinda stood up and cricked her neck. Dean could just watch. No-one was doing anything, except Melinda was making her way to Wyatt. He was just watching her, still catching his breath from their fight.

Melinda looked around the room with a smirk on her face. Chris was with Dana's body, while Wyatt just watched; a helpless look in his eyes. By the stairs, Dean could just stare. He realized at that moment that she had done the one thing that they were trying to stop her from doing. She had killed someone.

She stretched out her hands, and let electricity run between her fingers. Wyatt seemed to have given up, just watching her. But she knew her brother better than that. She pushed out her hand and hit Wyatt in the chest. It was a mild shock. Just enough to knock him off his feet before he did anything else.

Melinda was more interested in Dean. She was ready to make him suffer.

Riley had made his way to stand behind Dean. The half-manticore had said something, because Dean's expression had changed from shock and sadness to a smirk. It was like he knew something that she'd failed to realize. Like there had been a plan along. Melinda shook the feeling off her and rushed to Dean.

"Chris, now!" Riley called out, just as Melinda reached Dean. She tackled him to the ground, and sat over him with her hand glowing with blue electricity. Suddenly something sharp hit the back of her neck. Dean's smirk grew as he reached around to the back of her neck. He pulled her down and kissed her hard, as he did something...she couldn't tell what, but it felt like something was being pushed into her neck.

Chris had telekinetically thrown the syringe, hitting Melinda in the back of the neck with the point. It stuck there, and was in the perfect position for Dean to reach around and push the liquid antidote into her veins. He'd only done it because Riley whispered to him that Melinda hadn't turned yet. She didn't kill Dana.

Of course! Why didn't Dean realize that as soon as it happened? How didn't Melinda realize that? Dana was a whitelighter. The only thing that could kill her was darklighter poison, and Melinda didn't have any of that. Dana was just knocked out for now from the jolt.

Dean kissed Melinda hard as he injected her. He wanted to let her know that he wasn't going to blame her for anything that she had done during this stage.

Melinda's eyes rolled into the back of her neck and she collapsed on top of Dean. It was over. They'd saved her.

"Ow!" Dana complained from where she laid in Chris' arms, "I can't believe your sister tried to electrocute me."

"What...she's alive?" Sam's voice called out from the stairs. He hadn't moved after watching Melinda electrocute Dana. He couldn't believe everything that he was watching. Dana was dead and it meant Melinda had turned. She clearly wanted to kill Dean, and he just seemed to accept it. That was until Chris had thrown the syringe. It was like Dean knew what was going to happen.

"Whitelighters can't die from electrocution," Riley answered with a smile to Sam, "Mel never killed her, so she never actually turned."

"The antidote worked?" Wyatt now asked, getting up off the ground in pain. He'd need some healing but the jolt hadn't been enough to kill him. He wondered if he'd ever understand why Melinda hadn't shocked him enough to kill him.

"I think so," Dean held his girlfriend close, pulling the syringe out of her neck. The whole thing was empty, "She's out cold, though."

"Poppy was the same," Dana explained, as Chris helped her stand, "Bobby and Pru are keeping an eye on her at the moment."

* * *

><p>"There is something very satisfying about killing a demon," Dean said as he walked into the dining room from the sunroom. Everyone just looked at him with mixed expressions. Some seemed to agree with him, while others just looked at him with shock and awe, "What?"<p>

Sam laughed not really that amused by the situation and shook his head. Wyatt did start laughing and sat down at the dining table.

"Glad you could get some satisfaction from the day." He said just as his arm twitched. Wyatt groaned and grabbed his right arm with his left, rubbing it.

"The after effects suck, right?" Dana moaned, holding an ice pack to her head. While Dana couldn't die, she could still feel pain. She'd healed Wyatt from his injuries sustained in the fight, but she couldn't heal her own. And Wyatt couldn't heal them, either. She was just going to have to wait for the effects to wear off.

"Why don't you go to bed, D?" Chris suggested, rubbing her shoulders as he stood behind her.

"Okay," she resigned reluctantly, "Don't be too long?"

"I won't." Chris smiled and kissed her. Dana returned the kiss before walking up the stairs and out of earshot.

"So, that's two bodies we need to burn?" Sam now looked at Dean. They were going out that night to dispose of Ruby's body, and now the white-haired man that Dean had obviously just killed. Dean nodded but didn't really want to leave. Melinda still hadn't woken up. They'd decided to lay her on the couch in the living room while Dean dealt with the white-haired man. He hadn't gotten all the answers, but he had found out that Crowley had ordered the hit. Wyatt had found that out from Melinda, though. He wondered whether Melinda knew anymore.

He'd really like to know what Crowley's game was. Did this have something to do with three months ago? It seemed coincidental, and Dean didn't believe in coincidences.

"I'll go with Sam, if you want," Chris offered, "I don't think I can face Melinda and not get angry with her right now."

"You don't?" Wyatt raised his eyebrows, "At least you know your girl can't die without darklighters. She went after Bianca and Xandra."

"I know," Chris nodded, "It didn't stop the pain in my heart when I saw Dana go down. I'll go with Sam. Dean seems to be the calmest to deal with Melinda."

"Thanks, man," Dean nodded. He did want to see Melinda, "If you don't mind, Sammy."

"It doesn't bother me," Sam shrugged his shoulders and then looked at Chris, "No time like the present."

Dean threw Sam the keys to the Impala. Ruby's body was already in it, so Sam and Chris got to work on moving the white-haired man. As they did that, Wyatt made the decision to go back home to see his "girls."

It left Dean on his own. All he could think of doing was pouring a glass of whiskey and sitting in the living room. He sat on the coffee table, just watching Melinda as she slept. He really hoped that antidote worked. They were just assuming that it would, right now. Dean was pouring himself a second glass of whiskey and slumping in the chair opposite the couch when Melinda's eyes fluttered awake.

"Dean?" She called out weakly, making Dean jump. He hadn't even noticed that he was waking. He rushed over to the couch and knelt down in front of her. Moving her hair out of her eyes, he looked at here with a loving smile.

"Hey, gorgeous," he smiled, "How are you feeling?"

"Not evil," Melinda answered and groaned as she sat up, "Did I really do all that?"

"Erm, yeah," Dean replied, handing Melinda the glass of whiskey. She needed that more than he did right now. She downed the glass and passed him the glass back with a thankful smile, "But you were full of that poison."

Melinda shook her head. That was no excuse. She made her way to the bottle of whiskey and took the top off, taking a few large gulps of it. Dean just watched her as she did it. There was no facial expression, nothing. He just waited for her to take in everything that had happened.

"I nearly killed my niece," Melinda finally said, looking into Dean's eyes, "I remember holding her and thinking just how easy it would be to snap her neck. She was sleeping. I could have..."

As Melinda described that moment, Dean got up off the floor and ran towards her, taking her hands in his.

"Don't think about it," if he was honest, he didn't want to hear it, "Mel, you were full of that poison."

"That's no excuse," she shook her head, walking away from Dean. She picked the whiskey up again and took another couple of mouthfuls, "I should have been able to fight it."

Dean wanted to argue back that she wouldn't have been able to, but decided against it. He just watched her, as she started pacing the floor and drank more from the bottle. When he decided she had had enough, he took the bottle off her and put the cap back on. He placed it on the top of the fireplace and stopped her pacing.

"You didn't hurt her, Mel," Dean told her, "You could have, but you decided against it. Surely that counts for something."

"Only because I was going to turn her evil, too," Melinda laughed without any humor, "Don't you get it. I couldn't do anything. No-one could! I nearly turned evil. In fact, if it wasn't for Dana being a whitelighter I would have. I actually thought I'd done it, you know. It didn't cross my mind that she was a whitelighter so wouldn't have actually died."

Melinda went back to pacing, as the memories of everything she did flooded her system. She couldn't believe that she could have tried to kill her own niece, and then she attacked Bianca. In the end, she'd decided...

"You were gonna be my first kill," she looked into Dean's eyes, tears filling her own, "I wanted you to be. I actually had the Colt to your head..."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not okay. I put the Colt to your head. If it wasn't for Wyatt, you'd be dead on his living room floor right now. How can you sit here and pretend that everything is okay."

"Because it wasn't you, Melinda," Dean replied to her, "And do you really think you're the first person close to me who tried to kill me? Sammy once tried it. He was possessed by a demon called Meg, but it was still his face that I was staring at."

"But he was possessed," Melinda pointed out, "I was me. There was no possession. It was me wanting to do the killing."

Dean grabbed Melinda's face in his hands and looked deep into her green eyes. They'd lost the evil glint that they had just hours earlier. Now they were full of sadness and fear.

"You were poisoned, Mel," Dean explained, "I would never blame you for that. It's Crowley we need to blame."

Melinda frowned. The mention of Crowley had her thinking about things that had happened in the basement, "Crowley came to me. He untied my ropes."

"Crowley? He was here?"

"Yeah, he told me the reason he did it. Why he sent the hits out to me and Poppy. It was because we helped you."

Dean frowned. He knew that it had something to do with him. Something in his gut told him. Dean let go of Melinda and grabbed the whiskey himself, taking a mouthful of it.

"He wanted to make you mad or something," Melinda explained, thinking back to everything that Crowley had said, "He knew Poppy had been astral projecting to you and knew that we were together. He wanted to make you suffer. Wyatt was going to be next since he's your best friend. He couldn't do anything to Sam since the poison wouldn't work on him."

Dean clenched his jaw, anger flowing through his system.

"You got hurt because of me," he finally said. He'd never be able to forgive himself for this, "You see, this is why you shouldn't be around me. I can't protect you, not if he's trying to get to me."

"Whoa! I don't think so!" Melinda realized what Dean was now trying to do, "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Dean. He may have been after you, but do you have any idea how many people get hurt because of me?"

Dean didn't answer her. He just looked at the fireplace, taking another mouthful of whiskey. Melinda walked over to him, now grabbing his face in her hands.

"A lot of people get hurt because of me," she told him, gently, "Too many. My mom and Ben are dead because of me. But there have been others. Demons always attack those we love the most to hurt us. That's the way they think. Look at the way I was thinking. I nearly killed my niece because I wanted to hurt Wyatt."

"So, you're saying we shouldn't have people we care about." Dean nodded his head, not sure whether he was agreeing with her or asking her. It seemed more like a statement.

Melinda narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "No. If we did that then the demons would win anyway. We'd be dead inside for that to happen."

A hint of recognition crossed Dean's face. He knew deep down that she was right, and he knew that he hated the loneliness. That was one of the reasons he wanted Sam's help three years ago when he went to Stanford after their dad went missing. He could have done it all himself, but he didn't want to be alone.

"And we wouldn't have anything to fight for. What would stop them from killing us? Love always wins. If it didn't, I definitely wouldn't be here."

"So, where do we go from here?" Dean now asked. He was in unknown territory, really. He wanted to be with Melinda, but he was so afraid of losing her. But she'd proven that she could look after herself. She may have been evil—or turning evil—at the time, but she could fight and had an amazing handle on her powers. He should have never doubted that when they were out hunting.

The sound of the front door opening stopped them from continuing the conversation. Sam and Chris walked in, laughing and joking with each other.

"Well, I have some apologizing to do." Melinda said as she looked directly at Chris. Chris just stared at Melinda and then shook his head, before walking towards the kitchen. Melinda looked at Dean, who nodded encouraging her to follow him. She kissed him gently, rubbing his cheek with one hand.

"We'll discuss what we do later, okay?"

With that, Melinda walked out of the room. Dean closed his eyes with a deep sigh.

"Everything okay between you two?" Sam asked from the doorway. Dean looked at his little brother, and saw the worry in his eyes.

"It's fine, Sammy." Dean said, sitting on the couch with the bottle of whiskey. He took another mouthful of it, encouraging Sam to grab a glass and sit down. Sam took the bottle of whiskey from his brother and pour a glass for himself, handing the bottle back to his brother.

"So, what's up? You need to talk, Dean."

"It was Crowley," Dean shook his head with a scoff, "Crowley ordered the hit on Melinda and Poppy because of me. He wanted to get to me. No-one is safe with me around."

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's the truth. If I'm around, Crowley will hurt everyone because he wants to get to me. And all because you guys got me out of this deal. I should have known that it would all be too good to be true."

"So, what? You're gonna run away because of this? You're gonna break contact with everyone? Do you really think that will work? Because I tell you something now, he knows who you care about and there's no way you can stop caring for us. You won't just turn your feelings off for Melinda. I've seen the way you look at her. And I'm your brother."

Dean laughed once and just looked into the bottle of whiskey, "I don't know, man. I don't know what to do right now."

"I do," Sam said with certainty, and waited for Dean to look at him, "We kill Crowley."

"You'd stick by me to do that?"

"Dude, we'd all stick by you to do that. Crowley tried to turn Melinda and that could have led to Xandra being turned. He picked with the wrong witch. Not only does she have you looking out for her, but she has two big brothers who are hell-bent on keeping her safe."

Sam was right. Dean knew that, and once Crowley was gone they would be a little safer.

"Okay, I'll talk to Melinda tomorrow and we'll stay for a while. We'll gank Crowley and can move on from there."

Sam nodded his head and raised his glass up to Dean. Dean tapped the glass with his bottle of whiskey, and they both took mouthfuls.


	14. Chapter 14

**Gabyhyatt, thanks for your review. I was getting worried that no-one was reading this anymore! Glad you liked the fact that Dana survived. To be fair, I didn't focus on developing her that character that much, but she worked for the shock factor for Dean...that moment of wondering whether Melinda had just turned evil.  
><strong>

**This chapter is more of an epilogue and is short. It sets up things for the next story really. If you want me to post that, I'd love to hear it in feedback. I'll probably share it anyway since it's written but I'd really like the feedback to know whether people want to read it.**

Chapter 14

"I say we go for it." Wyatt nodded his head. He was in the kitchen of the Manor with Chris, Melinda, Dean and Sam. They'd called him over first thing in the morning so Melinda could apologize.

Since Wyatt had been able to sleep on it and hug his daughter, he'd relaxed a little about the whole situation. He was able to forgive Melinda for what she did. After all, she wasn't herself. Once he found out Sam's idea to kill Crowley, Wyatt was all onboard.

"No-one attacks my sister and gets away with it," Wyatt shook his head and then looked at Chris, "What do you say?"

"Sam had me as soon as he said to kill Crowley," Chris nodded his head and then looked at Melinda, "What about you, sis."

"Let's get this son of a bitch," She agreed and looked at Dean, "I'm guessing this means we're staying here?"

"For the time being," Dean nodded his head, "We need to work together to do this. Crowley isn't going to come to us willingly. He'll know that we're gonna be after him now."

"I want in on this one." A young female voice said. Poppy had come storming into the kitchen, with Pru and Riley behind her.

"Poppy, I said..."

"That bastard tried to turn me evil. I want to get him."

Dean smirked at the 16-year-old and nodded his head, "Fine by me."

"No way!" Pru shook her head, "This is my baby sister," and then she turned to Wyatt and Chris for support, "You can't agree with them. You know how protective you are of Mel..."

"I'm doing this, Pru." Poppy argued.

"She needs to learn how to fight, Pru," Wyatt shook his head, "And learning with us around is better than her going off alone. If she wants to help vanquish this sorry son of a bitch, then I'm all for it. We could use all the help we could get right now."

Pru was out numbered. She realized that after Wyatt spoke. Everyone was on Poppy's side. She knew that her little sister had to learn to fight demons somehow, but she didn't want it to be this way or right now. Poppy had just recovered from a stint at being turned evil and she was still just 16. The last thing Pru wanted was for her baby sister to grow up right now.

"So, I've got some information on Crowley and Bobby does too," Sam explained, "But there's still a lot more to go through."

"Where do we start?" Chris asked. It was time to get the son of a bitch.

* * *

><p>Melinda walked into her apartment and looked around. She was surprised at how clean it was. When she said Sam could stay there while she was on the road, she expected to come back to clothes everywhere and it generally looking like a boy's place. It turned out that Sam was much tidier than Dean. In fact, Sam was much tidier than herself!<p>

Speaking of Dean, he walked in with a large pizza box, and shut the apartment door behind him. Sam had decided to move back into the Halliwell Manor for the time being, mentioning something about finding his own place later. It allowed Mel to move back into hers, and spend time with Dean on her own. The two wanted time alone after the horror of the last couple of days.

Dean put the pizza on the coffee table, while Melinda grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge. They sat down together to eat, and it felt like everything was falling into place.

"Do you think we can do it?" she asked, looking over at Dean to see him tucking into the slice of pizza, "Do you think we can really kill Crowley?"

"Of course we can," Dean nodded his head, speaking with a mouthful of food, "And we will do."

Dean wasn't in the mood to discuss Crowley anymore. They'd been talking about it all afternoon, coming up with a basic plan of attack for now. It didn't quite involve getting to wherever Crowley was and killing him, but it did involve finding out more about him. Sam, Chris and Poppy were going to head the research. Dean and Melinda would just be ready when it came to formulating a real plan to kill the sucker.

Right now, all Dean wanted to do was sit back and relax. He wanted to enjoy food and alcohol with his girlfriend, and worry about the world tomorrow. Melinda wasn't too certain. She needed to run through this again.

Dean sighed and put his pizza slice back in the box and then his beer on the table. He grabbed Melinda's beer and pizza, placing them on the coffee table before he kissed her hard.

"Will you please stop thinking about this?" He asked her, "We can't do anything about him right now, so stop running through it. Let's enjoy a night together. Let's celebrate saving your damn fine ass."

Melinda laughed and kissed Dean gently, "You're right."

The two went back to their pizza and beer. About halfway through the food, Melinda turned to Dean with a small smile.

"You know, we've saved each other's asses now," she pointed out, "I guess we're even."

"I guess we are." Dean smirked and then kissed her hard again, "So is it your turn to save my ass, then?"

"I guess it is," Melinda nodded, "Good job it's an ass worth saving."

Dean raised his eyebrows at that remark and pulled Melinda in for a kiss. He could get used to this. Could that come once they get rid of Crowley? Deep down, Dean Winchester was certainly hoping so.

* * *

><p><strong>So, there we have it. The second story in this DeanMelinda universe. What did you think? I'd love to hear from you.  
><strong>


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